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A HISTORY OF 
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



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A HISTORY 



OF 



THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



BY 

JOSEPH SCHAFER, M.L. 

I : 
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON; 

SOMETIME FELLOW IN HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN; 

JOINT AUTHOR OF STRONG AND SCHAFER'S " GOVERNMENT OF THE 

AMERICAN PEOPLE"; AUTHOR OF "THE ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM 

OF LAND-GRANTS IN AID OF EDUCATION," ETC, 



WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1905 

All rights reserved 



5X1 



LIBRARY of JON'JKtSS 
Two 00()iei> rteceiveu 

MAY aa iwb 

Oouyimm ciiuy 

OOHY ti. 
' 



Copyright, 1905, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May, igoj. 



Ea 
FREDERIC G. YOUNG, A.B. 

Professor of Economics and Sociology, University of Oregon 

WHOSE WORK AS SECRETARY OF THE OREGON HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY FROM THE TIME OF ITS FOUNDATION HAS 

SIMPLIFIED THE TASK OF EVERY INVESTIGATOR 

IN THE FIELD OF NORTHWESTERN HISTORY 



PREFACE 

This little book is an attempt to relate, in 
simple, readable style, the impressive story of 
civilization building in the region once called 
Oregon, but now known as the Pacific North- 
west. The boundaries of this territory embrace 
the three states of Oregon, Washington, and 
Idaho, the first of which, as the oldest member 
of the sisterhood, retains the original name of 
the whole. 

The division into states should not disguise 
to us the fact that northwestern history is 
more remarkable for its unity than its diver- 
sity. And only by treating it as one rather 
than three distinct movements can a correct 
view of the whole be obtained. This principle 
will unquestionably hold good for all matters 
save the purely political ; in order to treat 
these fully, it would of course be necessary to 
consider each of the three states by itself. 

It has seemed to me, however, that after 
passing the intensely interesting period of the 



viii PREFACE 

Oregon provisional government, politics should 
occupy only a very few pages in so small a 
volume. The organization and operation of 
new state governments in this region differs 
little from similar activities in other territory 
belonging to the United States. But the pro- 
cesses by which the wilderness was subdued, 
homes multiplied, cities built, commerce ex- 
tended to all parts of the world, and a great 
civilization developed in this remote and once 
inaccessible portion of our continent, — these 
are not mere replications of what had previ- 
ously taken place elsewhere. The unfolding 
of these processes, under the special physical 
conditions prevailing here, gives to the history 
of the region a charm belonging to itself alone. 
I have, therefore, adopted the plan of treating 
the early period with considerable fullness, de- 
voting to it fourteen chapters, and making the 
remaining five chapters practically a sketch of 
progress in the Pacific Northwest from 1849 
to the present time. 

In preparing the book, I have naturally 
gained much assistance from the works of 
earlier writers in the same field, especially 
from those volumes of the H. H. Bancroft 



PREFACE ix 

series which relate especially to this region. 
But it has been my rule not to rely upon sec- 
ondary authorities, unless compelled to, except 
in matters of secondary importance. For the 
most part it has been possible, with a large 
expenditure of time and effort and through the 
generosity of many kind friends, to procure 
the actual sources. Moreover, a mass of docu- 
ments, fortunately discovered in the course of 
these researches, will now be used for the first 
time in this volume, and more fully in my 
forthcoming " History of the Pacific Slope and 
Alaska." 

Much as I would like to mention here the 
names of all who gave any assistance during 
the performance of this task, the limits of space 
make it impracticable to do so. In some cases 
the service was necessarily slight, but uniformly 
rendered with heartiness and good will ; in 
others it was of considerable moment, and in 
a few Instances absolutely essential to the suc- 
cess of the work. 

For the use of indispensable sources I am 
under special obligations to Professor F. G. 
Young, secretary of the Oregon Historical 
Society, and to Mr. George H. Himes, the 



X PREFACE 

assistant secretary ; to Reuben Gold Thwaites, 
LL.D., superintendent of the Wisconsin His- 
torical Library, and Mr. Isaac S. Bradley, the 
librarian ; also to Hon. C. B. Bagley of Seattle, 
and Hon. F. V. Holman of Portland. Some 
things of considerable importance were secured 
through the courtesy of those in charge of the 
Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis; the 
State Historical Society of Missouri, Colum- 
bia ; the Mercantile Library, St. Louis ; the 
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka; and the 
California State Library, Sacramento. 

To the Hon. H. W. Scott, editor of the Port- 
land Oregonian, I am indebted for suggestions 
which proved very helpful in determining the 
general plan and scope of the work ; and to 
Dr. J. R. Wilson, principal of the Portland 
Academy, for a critical examination of the 
matter and form of the book. Several of my 
colleagues at the University, Miss Camilla 
Leach, Professor F. S. Dunn, and Professor 
H. D. Sheldon, read portions of the manu- 
script and offered valuable suggestions. Mrs. 
Florence Baker Hays of Boise, Idaho, col- 
lected for me a portion of the matter appearing 
in the Appendix. Nearly all of the proofs have 



PREFACE XI 

passed through the hands of Rev. E, Clarence 
Oakley, of Eugene. My wife, Lily Abbott 
Schafer, has given me assistance and encour- 
agement at every stage of the work. 

It is pleasing to reflect that by a fortunate 
chance this little volume makes its appearance 
very near the time (June i, 1905) set for the 
opening of the World's Fair at Portland, Ore- 
gon. Since the exposition was planned to 
commemorate the achievement of Lewis and 
Clark, its intimate relation to the subject of 
this history is apparent. If the book serves 
to contribute, even slightly, to that powerful 
historical impulse which the Lewis and Clark 
Exposition illustrates, and especially if it shall 
promote a more intelligent interest in north- 
western history among the youth of this region, 
for whom it is primarily intended, I shall feel 
amply repaid for the labor bestowed upon it. 



JOSEPH SCHAFER. 



University of Oregon, 
Eugene, March 20, 1905. 



CONTENTS 



Preface 



CHAPTER 

1 . Early Explorers of the Pacific Coast . 

II. The Northwest Coast and Alaska 

III. Nootka Sound and the Columbia 

IV. Early Explorations Westward 
V. Origin of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 

VI. Opening a Highway to the Pacific 

VII. A Race for the Columbia River Fur Trade 

VIII. The Hudson's Bay Company 

IX. The Oregon Question . 

X. Pioneers of the Pioneers 

XI. The Colonizing Movement . 

XII. The Great Migration . 

XIII. The First American Government on the Pacific 

XIV. The Opening of a New Era 
XV. The Northwest and California 

XVI. Progress and Politics, 1 849-1 859 

XVII. The Inland Empire 

XVIII. The Age of Railways . 

XIX. The Pacific Northwest of To-day 

Appendix 

Index . . 



PAGE 

vii 



15 

28 

43 
53 
69 

94 
115 
124 

^37 

159 
177 
196 
213 
229 
239 
253 
271 
288 

29s 
301 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Map of United States 


• 




Frontispiece 




PAGE 


The Mission of San Carlos, near Monterey 


8 


Tereoboo, King of Owyhee, bringing Presents 


to Captain 


Cook 


. 24 


Nootka Harbor, 1 788 










30 


The Sea-otter .... 










35 


The Mouth of the Cohimbia 










39 


Map of North America, 1788 










47 


Thomas Jefferson 










59 


Meriwether Lewis 










70 


William Clark .... 










71 


Great Falls of the Missouri 










79 


Multonomah Falls 










81 


The Rocky Mountains 










83 


The Dalles .... 










86 


The Gorge of the Columbia 










87 


Clark's Map of the Transcontinental 


Route 








91 


Astoria ..... 










103 


Fort Okanogan .... 










III 


Fort Walla Walla . 










116 


Dr. John McLoughlin, 1824 










117 


Map of the Columbia 










118 


Fort Vancouver 










120 


Old Mission House, Oregon 










150 


Tsimakane Mission . 










157 


Sweetwater Gap, on the Oregon Trail 








iBi 


XV 













XVI 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



A Buffalo Hunt .... 

The Old Trail along the Sweetwater . 

Mt. Hood 

Governor George Abernethy 
Mount Rainier from the South . 
General Joseph Lane 
Sutter's Fort in 1849 • • • • 
General Isaac Ingalls Stevens . 
Coeur d'Alene. 1853 .... 
Pack Train on Mountain Trail . 
Fort Benton, 1853 .... 
View of Portland .... 
f/Physiographic Map of the United States 
Henry Villard ..... 
James Willis Nesmith 
Falls of the Spokane 
View of Seattle .... 



PAGE 

188 

192 

194 
197 

201 

228 
231 
252 
256 

25S 

261 

263 
267 
276 

277 
284 
285 



A HISTORY OF 
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC 
NORTHWEST 

CHAPTER I 

EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 

It is a far cry from the Isthmus of Panama Scope of the 
to the icy capes above Bering's Strait ; and the ^^^p^^"^ 
explorations which unveiled that long coast line 
form a thrilling chapter in the history of our 
continent. The story opens on the 25th of 
September, 15 13, when Balboa, surrounded by 
sixty Spanish companions, stood on a peak of 
the Darien Mountains and gazed, with the rap- 
ture of a discoverer, upon the waters of the 
South Sea. It closes two hundred and sixty- 
five years later, when Captain Cook rounded 
" the Northwestern point of all America," and 
named it Cape Prince of Wales. The earlier 
portion of these explorations, covering nearly 
one hundred years, will be treated in the pres- 
ent chapter. 

Balboa, on first beholding the Pacific, made importance 
a formal declaration that all its coasts belonged, discovery^ 
by right of discovery, to the king of Spain. 
Four days later he reached the shore at the 
Gulf of San Miguel, and repeated the cere- 



2 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

mony of taking possession, this time marching 
into the surf at the head of his party. While 
such formalities usually have little effect upon 
the course of history, the discovery itself was 
a great triumph for the Spanish government. 
Since the time of Columbus, their navigators 
had been searching among the West Indies, 
and along the Atlantic coast of ~ South and 
Central America, in the blind hope of finding 
an open passage to the Orient. They failed 
because, as it was supposed, nature had sown 
islands so thickly in this part of the ocean 
that it was very difficult for ships to pick their 
way among them. The numerous failures had 
discouraged many; but when Balboa reached 
the open sea by marching overland a few miles 
from the Darien coast, no one any longer 
doubted that a convenient westward route 
existed. It was generally supposed that this 
would be found to the north of the Isthmus. 
Magellan soon afterward proved that there 
was a way around South America, but it was 
very difficult, and far out of the direct course 
from Europe to eastern Asia. The necessity 
still remained, therefore, to find a "strait," and 
the discovery of the Pacific stimulated the 
search in an extraordinary manner. 
The search Duriug the cutirc history of navigation no 

mere idea or hope has been followed out with 
greater persistence. The belief in a strait 



for a strait 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 3 

became almost universal among commercial 
peoples, and to find it was the ambition of 
seafarers throughout the world. It was this, in 
part, which brought out so quickly the geog- 
raphy of the Atlantic coast of North America, 
and induced so many explorers to enter the 
water courses leading to the interior of the 
continent. Each newly discovered estuary, 
every deep indentation of the coast, was con- 
fidently expected to afford the coveted high- 
way ; until, as we shall see, after a long series 
of failures by Spaniards and others in the south, 
the British mariners turned to seek a Northwest 
Passage in the region of Hudson Bay. 

The people most interested in the search for Reasons for 
a strait during the sixteenth century were the ^^e Pacific 
Spaniards. Portugal had been the great rival coast 
of Spain in the effort to find a water route to 
the Indies, and her famous navigator, Vasco da 
Gama, had opened the way around Africa while 
Columbus and his followers were vainly trying 
to reach Asia by sailing west. The Portuguese 
had a monopoly of this route, and were growing 
rich from the profits of the spice trade with the 
Moluccas. In order to share in this commerce 
it was necessary for the Spaniards to complete 
the western highway to the Orient by the dis- 
covery of the indispensable strait. As a foot- 
ing had been obtained on the Pacific coast of 
Central America it was determined to follow 



A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Balboa 
and his 
successors 



Mexico 



up the search from that as well as from the 
Atlantic side. 

The first ships to sail upon the South Sea 
were launched by Balboa himself in the year 
151 7. They were built on the Panama coast, 
some of the timbers for their construction hav- 
ing been carried across the mountains on the 
backs of Indian slaves. The hundreds of na- 
tives who perished under the lash during this 
terrible march constituted the first bloody sac- 
rifice to the Spirit of the Western Sea. Aside 
from building the vessels very little was achieved 
by Balboa. He coasted along the shore for some 
distance, gathered gold and pearls from the 
tribes in those regions, and returned to the 
colony on the opposite side of the mountains 
where he was put to death by political enemies. 
About six years later, however, two other Span- 
iards explored northwestward from Panama as 
far as the Gulf of Fonseca, discovering Lake 
Nicaragua. This, it was hoped, with the 
stream flowing from it to the Atlantic, and a 
very short canal through the level ground on 
the west, might give them a passage from ocean 
to ocean. Thus early (1523) was suggested the 
idea of an interoceanic canal. 

By this time the Spaniards were in possession 
of the rich valley of Mexico, where Cortez had 
recently overthrown the power of the Aztec 
confederacy. It w^as the most important terri- 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST "5 

tory of the New World yet brought under sub- 
jection by Europeans. The land was rich, its 
resources were varied, and the position it occu- 
pied between the two seas was a commanding 
one. The colony planted in Mexico became 
a center for new explorations, carried on both 
north and south, by land and by sea. 

Cortez, ever on the lookout for opportunities Cortez 
of further conquest, sent his military expedi- expi'oTer ^" 
tions toward the west, and soon learned of a 
great ocean which he judged to be the same as 
Balboa's South Sea. The news made a deep 
impression upon his imagination. Military suc- 
cesses had already brought him riches, and a 
fame which reached to all countries of the civil- 
ized world ; but Cortez saw that here was the 
gateway to greater wealth and a more enduring 
renown. By exploring the Pacific he expected 
to find many islands abounding in gold and 
other riches. He hoped, also, to reach the 
Moluccas, and above all, he was anxious to find 
the strait so ardently desired by the king of 
Spain. He therefore established a naval sta- 
tion on the west coast of Mexico and soon 
began sending expeditions toward the north. 
Some of his ships were lost, and large sums 
of money spent, but no very important results 
were obtained until 1539.' In that year Cortez 

^ The southern end of the California Peninsula was discov- 
ered in 1534. It was supposed to be an island. The attempt to 
plant a colony there failed. 



6 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

sent out Ulloa, witli three ships, to trace the 
Mexican coast northward. One vessel was 
soon lost. With the two remaining the mari- 
ner held his course till he approached the head 
of the Gulf of California. Tacking about he 
now passed along the shore of the peninsula 
to the cape which forms its southern extremity. 
Rounding this dangerous headland he beat up 
the outer coast as far as Cedros Island (latitude 
28°). From this expedition Ulloa and his flag- 
ship never returned, although the surviving 
vessel reached Mexico in the following year. 
Cortez meantime returned to Spain (1540) and 
died there a few years later (1547). 
Marion's Rcadcrs of early American history are famil- 

voyage -^j. ^[^\^ ^|-^g romantic story of Coronado : how 

he was dispatched from Mexico, in 1540, in 
search of the mythical golden cities, or Cities 
of Cibola, of which rumors had recently been 
brought from the north. At this time the 
viceroy of Mexico was Cortez 's rival, Mendoza; 
and he, in order to increase the chances of 
Coronado's success, sent a fleet under Alargon 
to support the land expedition. Alar9on reached 
the head of the Gulf, as Ulloa had done before 
him, and, leaving his ships at the entrance to 
the Colorado River, ascended the stream in 
small boats as far as its junction with the Gila. 
This proved that the land stretching toward 
the southwest was a peninsula and not an 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 7 

island. The name Califoj'uia, now known to 
have been derived from a sixteenth-century 
Spanish novel, was first applied to the country 
about this time. In its original use it signifies 
a fabulous island, situated not far "from the 
terrestrial paradise," and inhabited by a gigantic 
race of women. 

While the outlines of the California Gulf and Voyage of 
Peninsula had been made known, the explora- Feieio°^" 
tions thus far had revealed no part of the pres- 
ent western coast of the United States. The 
time was come for another forward movement, 
destined to carry the Spaniards many leagues 
further toward the Arctic Sea. Viceroy Men- 
doza had recently become much interested in 
exploration, and was not to be outdone by 
Cortez, the patron of Ulloa. In 1542 he com- 
missioned Cabrillo to explore the coast north- 
ward along the peninsula. This navigator 
passed Cedros Island, and on the 28th of Sep- 
tember anchored in a good harbor which re- 
ceived from him the name of San Miguel, but 
was later called San Diego. So far as we know 
this was the first visit of white men to the 
coast of Upper California. Cabrillo had two 
ships and supplies for a long cruise. After 
surveying the new-found harbor, he proceeded 
leisurely northward, anchoring at a number of 
points. He showed much interest in the land- 
scapes presented by these strange coasts, and 



8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

noted the ever changing forms of the moun- 
tains, plains, and valleys. The natives, too, 
received a share of Cabrillo's attention, and he 
describes the habitations, dress, food, and canoes 
of those that came most directly under his eye. 
After examining the coast as far as Monterey, 




The Mission of San Carlos, near Monterey. 



and perhaps somewhat farther, Cabrillo was 
driven southward to San Miguel Island, where 
he died, January 3, 1543. The chief command 
now fell to the pilot, Ferelo, who, like Cabrillo, 
was an able navio^ator, ambitious to win fame 
for himself and glory for his sovereign. Carry- 
ing out the dying command of his superior, 
Ferelo sailed northward. On this cruise the 
vessels passed up the coast beyond Monterey, 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 9 

possibly to the parallel of 42°, though probably 
not quite so far. Thus the first thirty years of 
Spanish exploration along the Pacific gave to 
the world a map of that coast from Panama to 
near the northern boundary of California. 

Spain was now by far the most powerful state Spain domi- 
of Europe, and her sovereign, Charles the Fifth, "^^^^^^^ 

J^ ' ' ' Pacihc coast 

the greatest king in Christendom. It was not 
strange, therefore, that she should attempt to 
monopolize the New World, or that other 
nations, like France and England, should be 
slow to lay claim to those regions. Spaniards 
were exploring the Atlantic coast, as well as the 
interior of North America; under Magellan 
they had already rounded the southern con- 
tinent, and discovered a passage — although a 
dangerous one — to the Pacific ; they were 
reaping a golden harvest from the mines of 
Peru and Mexico.^ The Pacific Ocean, west 
of the two Americas, was practically a Spanish 
sea. No other power seemed likely to disturb 
these waters, unless some easier passage from 
the Atlantic should be found than the treacher- 
ous Straits of Magellan. Men felt as secure on 
that long coast line, stretching through more 

1 Soon after this the Spaniards also began a regular trade with 
the Orient by way of Mexico and the Philippine Islands. Magel- 
lan had discovered the Philippines on his famous voyage around 
the world, and lost his life there. About 1564 Spain began to 
colonize the islands, and then a trade sprang up which became 
very important. 



Drake's 
expedition 



10 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

than a hundred degrees of latitude, as they did 
in the interior of Spain itself. 
Origin of lu this agreeable delusion Spanish colonists 

and merchants along the Pacific whiled away 
the peaceful years till a new generation came 
upon the stage of history. Then suddenly an 
event occurred which startled them from their 
repose. This was the buccaneering voyage of 
Sir Francis Drake, which took place in the 
years 1577 to 1580. Drake was one of those 
daring English seamen who made the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth as famous for its maritime en- 
terprise as it became for its literature through 
such men as Shakespeare and Spenser. He 
sailed from Plymouth with five ships Decem- 
ber 13, 1577, having first secured Elizabeth's 
consent to carry on private war against the 
hated Spaniards in the New World. The voy- 
age is described in a quaint, interesting man- 
ner, by the chaplain of the expedition, Francis 
Fletcher, whose book has been published under 
the title, " The World Encompassed by Sir 
Francis Drake." Fletcher naturally makes a 
hero of the Captain, describing him as a brilliant 
leader in battle, a stern but righteous judge, and 
a commander whose will few dared to disobey. 
At times he could be the jovial companion of 
sailors and officers, drinking and carousing 
with as little conscience as the rest. But 
when danger threatened, or death seemed 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST il 

imminent, he could also lead them in their 
prayers, and preach the hopeful doctrines of 
the Christian church. 

Nearly a year passed, after leaving England, His voyage 
before the ships emerged from the Straits of '^,'""f^^^ 

i^ o racihc coast 

Magellan ; and as they did so a furious storm 
drove them hundreds of leagues into unknown 
southern waters, and made it impossible for them 
to keep together. The remainder of the long 
cruise was made by Drake in the single ship 
Golden Hind, the other vessels all forsaking 
him. For many months he plowed the waters 
along the coasts of South and Central America, 
committing depredations which would be in- 
credible except for the defenseless condition of 
the Spaniards. Not satisfied with attacking 
ships on the high seas, and forcing them to 
surrender, he ran into the harbors, where ves- 
sels of all descriptions were collected, and where 
they were supposed to be perfectly safe from 
harm. Sometimes he set fire to ships and fled ; 
again he would capture rich cargoes, and get 
safely away before the Spaniards could offer 
the least interference. But the larger part of 
his booty was obtained by the capture of Span- 
ish " treasure ships." One of these yielded 
him enormous wealth in bar gold, silver, gems, 
and plate. The vessel was called the Caca- 
ftiego or Spit-fire : after her capture a Spanish 
wag suggested that she be rechristened and 



12 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

given the more appropriate name Caca-plata^ 
Spit-silver. In these exploits the English cap- 
tain and his men showed all the bravery and 
darins: for which the corsairs of the tinie were 
noted ; they also showed some of the less ami- 
able qualities belonging to men of their class 
the world over. 
New Albion One of the objects of Drake's expedition was 
to find the passage leading from the Pacific to 
the Adantic. Accordingly, after his ship was 
gorged with plunder, he made sail to the north, 
running up to the parallel of 42°, or perhaps 
43°. By this time, we are informed, the men 
began to suffer severely from the cold, although 
it was midsummer, and therefore, on the 17th 
of June (1579), Drake ran into a very good 
harbor in latitude 38° 30'. It is supposed that 
this was the opening just above San Francisco 
which modern geographers call Drake's Bay.^ 
In the California harbor, Drake repaired his 
vessel as well as he could and prepared for the 
later cruise. He made some explorations to- 
ward the interior, and gained great influence 
over the natives about the bay, who begged 
him to remain in the country. They agreed, 
as the narrator declares, to accept the English 

^ There is no probability that the Englishman saw the great 
harbor of northern California, allliough some writers have 
strangely sought to derive its saintly name from this terrible 
sea rover. 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 13 

queen as their sovereign. Drake went through 
the formality of taking possession of the land in 
her name, and called the region " New Albion," 
partly on account of the white banks and cliffs 
along the shore, partly to fix upon it a name 
sometimes applied to the Island Kingdom 
across the seas. We know very well that al- 
most, if not quite, the entire coast line seen by 
Drake had been skirted by Spanish navigators 
from Mexico a generation earlier ; yet he pre- 
tended to believe that the Spaniards had never 
"had any dealing, or so much as set foot in 
this country, the utmost of their discoveries 
reaching only to many degrees southward of 
this place." 

Instead of continuing the search for a pas- The return 
sage into the Atlantic, the Englishman decided *° England 
it would be wiser to carry his cargo into safe 
seas by the least dangerous route. He knew 
the Spaniards in the south would be guarding 
the coast, as well as the Straits of Magellan. 
Drake therefore struck boldly across the Pacific, 
rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and accom- 
plished the second circumnavigation of the 
globe. His ship reentered Plymouth harbor on 
the 26th of September, " in the just and ordi- 
nary reckoning of those that stayed at home." 
The seafarers had of course gained a day. 
Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased with the 
exploits of her valiant captain that she visited 



14 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Drake's ship, examined the treasures on board, 
and before leaving the deck conferred upon 
him the honor of knighthood. 
Vizcaino's Drakc's voyage produced great consternation 

expedition ^moug the Spanish colonists, and many plans 
were made to prevent others from committing 
similar outrages. One scheme was to explore 
the coast of Upper California, and establish 
forts at one or two good harbors. This was im- 
portant for commercial reasons, also, as the ships 
trading to the Philippines, on their return to 
Mexico along the California coast, needed some 
place to refit. Sebastian Vizcaino, a Spanish 
navigator, made the necessary explorations in 
1 602-1 603. He advised the government to 
fortify both Monterey and San Diego harbors, 
but nothing was done for many years. The 
expedition of Vizcaino marks the end of the 
early period of exploring activity on the Pacific 
coast. The seventeenth century, and the first 
half of the eighteenth, saw no discoveries. 
The " Manila sliips," as the vessels trading to 
the Philippines were called, were almost the 
only Spanish craft to approach the coast of 
Upper California during that long interval. 
The tribes and peoples seen by Cabrillo, Drake, 
and Vizcaino, continued to war among them- 
selves, in their barbarous way, unchecked by 
the presence of a superior race. California 
remained a wilderness. 



CHAPTER II 

THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA 

The one hundred and sixty years following The decline 
the voyage of Vizcaino witnessed great changes °^^p^^" 
in the relative power of Spain. Her decline 
began toward the close of the sixteenth century, 
and in 15S8 the English fleet, ofiicered by su- 
perb seamen like Howard and Drake, destroyed 
the Spanish Armada, which had threatened the 
ruin of England. From this time the other na- 
tions of Europe no longer feared Spain, and three 
of them, — England, France, and Holland, — 
began to colonize the New World. The found- 
ing of Jamestown in 1607, Quebec one year 
later, and the trading post at Manhattan Island 
in 161 3, gave each of these states a foothold 
on the Atlantic coast, all of which had been 
claimed by Spain under the name of Florida. 
In the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries England was enabled, largely through 
the growth of her navy, to outstrip all of the 
other colonizing powers, and to gain at last 
the entire eastern half of North America. Hol- 
land was forced to give up her colony in 1664; 
and France gave up Canada, together with the 

15 



l6 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

country between the Alleghanies and the Mis- 
sissippi, in 1763. Spain was pushed down into 
the peninsula of Florida, remaining there till 
1763, when she was compelled, for a time, to 
retire beyond the Mississippi.' 
Her unsafe Thcsc chaugcs scHously affcctcd the position 
condition on ^f Spain ou the Pacific coast. Her people 

the Tacihc ^ . . r 1 

coast feared that Great Britain would attack them 

on that side as they had already successfully 
done on the Atlantic. British navigators were 
at this time earnestly trying to discover the 
Northwest Passage from Hudson Bay to the 
Pacific. Should they be so fortunate as to 
find it, and gain a foothold on the west coast, 
the days of Spanish supremacy would be num- 
bered. This was one of the alarming condi- 
tions which roused the Spaniards from their 
sleep of a hundred and sixty years. Another 
danger threatened from the north, where the 
Russians had already made various discoveries,' 
including Bering's Strait and some points on 
the coast of Alaska. There was nothing to 
prevent these hardy northerners from pushing 
down the coast line at their own good pleasure. 

The remedy; But thc pcoplc of Mcxico, supportcd by the 
Spanish government, now showed themselves 
capable of making extraordinary exertions for 
the safety of the state. They proposed a great 
plan of northern expansion, which included 

1 During a brief period, 1 763-1 783, England controlled P'lorida. 



northern 
expansion 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA \J 

three points. First, they were to plant colo- 
nies and build forts at the harbors of San 
Diego and Monterey, as Vizcaino had recom- 
mended in 1603. Next, the entire region of 
Upper California was to be brought under 
Spanish rule. Lastly, they were to undertake 
further explorations by sea from Monterey to 
the vicinity of the Russian settlements on the 
North Pacific. In connection with the plan 
of conquest it was decided to establish a 
number of missions, such as already existed 
throughout the California Peninsula, for the 
purpose of Christianizing the northern Indians. 
Father Junipero Serra, a devout Franciscan 
friar, was placed in charge of the missionary 
arrangements. 

Early in 1769, two ships were sent north- planting the 
ward to the harbor of San Dieo-o, and at the California 

'-' _ missions and 

same time two companies of colonists, each presidios 
with a herd of cattle, marched overland from 
the northern missions of the peninsula. The 
total number of persons setting out by land and 
sea was two hundred and nineteen; but when 
the expeditions reached their destination it was 
found that only one hundred and twenty-six 
remained. This heroic little band hoped to 
conquer the vast stretches of wilderness com- 
prised within the present boundaries of Cali- 
fornia. On the 1 6th of July (1769) they founded 
the first of the series of missions at San Diego. 



l8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

where a fort, or presidio, was also established. 
Monterey was occupied in the following year, 
the harbor fortified, and the mission of San 
Carlos begun. This place became the capital 
of Upper California. Year by year other mis- 
sions were established, that -of San Francisco, 
the sixth in number, dating from October, 1776. 
Juan Perez As soou as the work of colonization was well 
^"'^ ^^^ - under way the leaders turned their attention to 

discovery of J ^ 

the North- tlic exploratious, which were a part of the great 
plan for extending the influence of Spain to- 
ward the north. The first expedition was in- 
trusted to Juan Perez, a naval officer of first 
rank, who had been in charge of the California 
fleet. His ship was the Santiago, one of the 
few vessels whose names deserve to be re- 
corded in a history of the Pacific Northwest. 
When all was in readiness for the departure, 
the officers and men gathered on the shore 
where some of the priests celebrated mass, and 
next morning (June 11, 1774) the Santiago was 
towed out of the harbor.^ For a number of 
days she drifted southward under adverse winds, 
and it was not till the 5th of July that the 42d 
parallel was passed. Thereafter Perez sailed 
steadily northward far from shore, intending 

^ Two priests accompanied the expedition, and fortunately 
each of them left us a diary giving a detailed history of the 
voyage. This brief account of the voyage is prepared from these 
journals. 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AMD ALASKA 19 

to reach the latitude of 60° before making 
land. But running short of water, on the 15th 
of July he put about to the east, and five days 
later reached the coast near the southern limits 
of Alaska. He named the place Santa Mar- 
garita, Many Indians came off from shore 
in their canoes, but they were very timid and 
only gradually gained courage to approach the 
ship. This shows that the sight of white men 
was new to them. After a time they brought 
otter skins, mats, and nicely woven hats made 
of rushes, to exchange for cast-off clothing, 
knives, beads, and ribbons. These Indians had 
among them a few iron rings and other metal 
trinkets, which some suppose to have come 
from the far-off British trading post at Hud- 
son Bay. In that case they must have been 
passed on from one tribe to another across the 
continent. 

Although his instructions required Perez to Theexpiora- 
reach the parallel of 60°, he decided that the no"th°ern ^ 
condition of his vessel and crew would not coast 
permit him to go farther. He therefore turned 
to explore the land southward to California. 
After running along the coast about six de- 
grees, he entered a " C "-shaped harbor just 
above the present American boundary line 
(49°) which he named San Lorenzo. Here, 
too, the natives were afraid of the Spaniards ; 
but when their timidity was overcome, they 



20 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

were glad to exchange the most beautiful otter 
skins for bits of ribbon or a few worthless shells. 
From San Lorenzo the course of the Saiitiao-o 
was almost continuously southward. At fre- 
quent intervals she was so close inshore that 
the land stood clearly revealed to those on board. 
On the 27th of August, after an absence of two 
months and a half, the good ship anchored safely 
in the harbor of Monterey. " Thanks be to 
God," the pious chronicler exclaims, " who has 
permitted us to arrive most happily at this port, 
although we suffer the disappointment of not 
having gained our chief end, which was to go 
as far north as sixty degrees of latitude, there 
to go ashore and raise the standard of the holy 
cross." 

Perez had made a general exploration of the 
entire Northwest Coast, froui the parallel of 42° 
to 54° 40', but he had failed to reach the region 
visited by the Russians.^ In the following year, 
therefore, a new expedition was fitted out, this 
time under the command of Captain Bruno 
Heceta. One of his vessels was the already 
famous Santiago, the other was a small ship 
named the Sonora. Heceta sailed under in- 
structions to reach the latitude of 65°. At a 
point near Fuca's Straits (Point Grenville) he 

^ The term "Northwest Coast" is usually applied to the region 
between these parallels, and includes what now is comprised in the 
coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA 21 

landed and went through the ceremony of 
taking possession of the country. Soon after 
this he decided for no very good reason, so far 
as we can see, to return to Cahfornia. On the 
17th of Augivst, while running southward along 
the coast, he discovered " a bay with strong 
eddies and currents, indicating the mouth of a 
laro^e river or strait." ' Heceta did not enter this 
stream, ^ad he done so the River of the 
West might to-day be known under a different 
name from that with which we are all familiar; 
for there is no doubt that the Spanish navigator 
describes the bay at the mouth of the Columbia. 

The Sonora, commanded by Cuadra, had been cuadra 
separated from the fiao-ship, and when Heceta '^^aches 

P . , . latitude 58° 

turned southward her intrepid captain was left 
to follow his own inclinations. He first ran 
many leagues to the w^est, and then veering 
about northward, finally saw (in latitude 57°) 
the snowy peak of a great mountain, to which 
he gave the name of " San Jacinto." Opposite 
this he landed, and for the second time the 
coast of the North Pacific was formally claimed 
as a part of the dominions of Spain. Before 
turning southward he reached the latitude of 
58°. Since the Russians had already seen 
points in Alaska from the 65th to the 6oth 
parallels, this voyage nearly completes the 
first general exploration of the Pacific Coast. 

^ The quotation is from Bancroft, •■ Nortliwest Coast," I, p. 163. 



22 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Origin of We havc now reached an important turning 

expedition poi^t in the history of the Northwest Coast. 
The fears of the Spanish were about to be 
realized; for in 1776 the British government 
resolved to send to the Pacific the first explorer 
to enter those waters from England since the 
voyage of Sir Francis Drake. The object of 
the new expedition was to find a passage east- 
ward, around the northern end of North 
America, from Bering's Strait. During the 
early part of the seventeenth century Great 
Britain had sacrificed valuable lives in the 
effort to find a Northwest Passage from the 
Atlantic into the Pacific. Henry Hudson, for 
example, perished in tlie great bay which bears 
his name ; but all to no effect. Then, for 
more than one hundred years, very little was 
done. About 1750 the subject of the North- 
west Passage came up prominently once more 
and could never afterward he dismissed. By 
this time it was known that North America 
was separated from Asia by a strait which 
extended north and south ; for the Danish 
navigator, Vitus Bering, while exploring for 
the Russian government in 1728, had passed 
around the northeastern point of Asia, and a 
few years later (1741) had crossed over to 
the coast of Alaska. It was also known that 
there was open sea far to the northwest of 
Hudson Bay; for in the years 1 769-1 772 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA 23 

Samuel Hearne, who was sent out by the 
Hudson's Bay Company, had traversed a thou- 
sand miles of wilderness from the Hudson's 
Bay post on Churchill River, and traced the 
Coppermine River to its outlet in a northern 
ocean. This encouraged the British govern- 
ment to begin the search once more, starting 
from two opposite points, Baffin's Bay on the 
east and Bering's Strait on the west. For the 
second part of this enterprise they selected 
their greatest explorer. Captain James Cook. 
He had distinguished himself during the pre- 
ceding half-dozen years by the discovery of New 
Zealand and other islands in the South Pacific, 
and by exploring the coasts of Australia. He 
was fitted out in the most complete fashion 
with two excellent ships, the Discovery and the 
Rcsohition. The latter, his flagship, was the 
vessel in which Cook had made his long cruise 
in the Pacific during the years 1 772-1 774. 

Cook's instructions were issued on the 6th Cook's 
of July (1776), and he sailed on the 12th of the instructions 
same month. He was ordered to enter the 
South Pacific, and after making some further 
explorations in those waters, to run to the 
coast of " New Albion." He was then to ex- 
plore northward to 65°, and endeavor to find 
a way from Bering's Strait into the Atlantic. 
Aside from their main features, the instructions 
are interesting in two other particulars. The 



24 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

first is the allusion to Drake's pretended dis- 
coveries of two centuries earlier; the second 
is the date, which Americans will recognize 
as strangely near the time when the English 
colonies on the Atlantic declared their inde- 
pendence of the mother country. It would 
almost seem as if Great Britain was making 




TEKEOiioo, King of Owyhee, uringing Presents to 
Captain Cook. 



TIerliscovers 
the Sand- 
wich Islands 



haste to gain an empire on the Pacific which 
might partly recompense her for losses on the 
opposite coast. 

After spending about eighteen months in 
southern waters, Cook sailed northward, and 
early in January, 1778, discovered a group of 
islands to which he gave the name of his 
patron, the Earl of Sandwich. Two months 
later he came in sight of the Oregon coast in 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA 2$ 

al:)Out latitude 44°. He then ran up the coast 
to the 47th parallel, where he commenced a 
careful search for a strait. An old tradition, 
published in England as early as 1625, de- 
clared that an Italian pilot, Juan de Fuca, had 
once entered an inlet on this part of the coast, 
and sailed without interruption through to the 
Atlantic. This was exactly the sort of pas- 
sage for which the British were seeking. 
Cook examined the supposed locality of the 
inlet with great attention but no success. He 
was convinced that the story of Juan de Fuca 
was a myth, like so many other mariner's tales.^ 

In about latitude 49° Cook probably entered From 
the identical harbor which Perez had named San ^°"^^^ 
Lorenzo. To this he gave the now well-known northward 
name of Nootka Sound. Hundreds of Indians 
crowded around the vessel in their canoes, 
bringing skins and furs for barter with the 
sailors. Hoisting his anchors and steering 
northwest. Cook saw San Jacinto Mountain, so 
named by Cuadra three years before. To this 
the Englishman gave the new name " Mt. 
Edgecumbe," by which it is still known. In 
latitude 60° he saw another towering peak, 
and learning that the Russians had given the 
name " St. Elias " to some point in this vicinity, 

1 A lew years later (1787) an inlet was found in this latitude 
by Barclay, another Englishman, and named after the Italian 
pilot of the sixteenth century, the Straits of Juan de Fuca. 



26 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Death of 

Captain 

Cook 

The map of 
the Pacific 
coast com- 
pleted 



he applied it to the imposing mountain whose 
glistening summit is such a conspicuous land- 
mark to all mariners sailing along the coast of 
Alaska. In a way it separated the explorations 
which had been carried on by the Russians at 
intervals since 1728 from those recently made 
by the Spaniards. Cook held his course north- 
westward, searching the coast for an eastward 
passage, and finally sailed through Bering's 
Strait. It was the 9th of August, 1778, when 
he reached " the northwestern extremity of all 
America," in latitude 65° 48'. Directly oppo- 
site he found the northeasternmost point of the 
Asiatic continent. The former he called " Cape 
Prince of Wales," the latter " East Cape." It 
was already too late in the season to attempt a 
passage through the northern sea, and there- 
fore Cook turned southward to spend the winter 
in the new tropical islands discovered at the 
opening of the year. Unfortunately, through 
some misunderstanding with the inhabitants 
of Hawaii, the great captain was attacked and 
killed by these barbarians, February 16, 1779. 
Cook was not the discoverer of the North- 
west Coast. That honor belongs to the Span- 
iards, while the Russians were first on the 
coast of Alaska. But in 1778 there were no 
carefully drawn charts to show what had al- 
ready been achieved. Many rumors, and a few 
written statements, containing a mixture of fact 



THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA 2/ 

and fable, were all that the English navigator 
had to rely upon. His exploration was, there- 
fore, independent of all the preceding, and his 
surveys were more accurate than any which had 
yet been made. While much still remained to 
be done in the way of filling in details, it is no 
mere fancy to say that Cook had completed the 
work which Balboa began. The map of the 
western coast line of our continent had been 
traced, amid mighty perils by sea and shore, 
testing the valor of seven generations. 



CHAPTER III 

NOOTKA SOUND AND THE COLUMBIA 

First sale of TiiE voyagc of Captain Cook had one result 
sea-otter whicli neither he nor the British orovernment 

skins in <D 

Canton foresaw. At various points along the North- 
west Coast, as Nootka Sound and Cook Inlet, 
the natives crowded about the ships to ex- 
change sea-otter and other skins for any at- 
tractive baubles the white man cared to sell. 
No one suspected the true value of these furs, 
and those who made the purchases intended 
them merely for clothing. But when the ships 
of the exploring squadron touched at Canton, 
China, on the return voyage to England, offi- 
cers and men sold the remains of their otter- 
skin garments, and a few unused furs, at prices 
which seemed almost fabulous. " Skins which 
did not cost the purchaser sixpence sterling," 
writes one of the men, " sold for one hundred 
dollars." The excitement on shipboard was 
intense. The crew wished to return at once, 
secure a cargo of furs in the Northwest, and 
make their fortunes. When the officers re- 
fused, they begged, blustered, and even threat- 
ened mutiny, in order to gain their object, but 
of course in vain. 

28 



NOOTKA SOUxND AND THE COLUMBIA 29 

The discovery of the value of sea-otter skins The world 
in the Canton market instantly chanfjed the l^^'^o"^^^ 

-' ^ interested 

thought of the world with respect to the North- imheNorth- 
west Coast. The region abounded in furs, but ^^^^ °^^^ 
thus far had not been visited for commercial 
purposes. Great Britain and Spain had sent 
their navigators into these waters for other 
reasons. The one desired to explore the coast 
in order to confirm her ancient claim of sov- 
ereignty over it; the other hoped to find, half 
hidden by some jagged cape, the long-sought 
highway to the eastern sea. When the news 
of this commercial discovery reached Europe 
it created widespread interest, and erelong 
ships flying the colors of England, of France,, 
and of Portugal, began regularly to visit the 
Northwest Coast. Those of Spain and of the 
United States soon followed. In a few years 
men of every nation could be found among 
the crews that searched the coves and inlets, 
wherever the presence of Indian tribes gave 
promise of a profitable trade. 

The first of these trading craft arrived from Early fur 
the coast of China in 178s. It was a small '^'^'^';^" ^'^ 

' -" results 

ship, apparently flying the Portuguese fiag, but 
commanded by an Englishman, James Hanna. 
He secured a cargo of five hundred and sixty 
sea-otter skins, which, on the return to China, 
were sold for more than twenty thousand dol- 
lars. No season passed thereafter in which the 



30 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

natives livinsf on the best-known harbors of the 

O 

North Pacific were unable to dispose of their 
furs. Gradually the traders explored new por- 
tions of the coast, and thus, year by year, other 
tribes were brought under the influence of the 
trade. In the course of the first ten years 



Nootka 
Sound 




Nootka Harbor, 1788. 

Launching the Northwest America, 

this commercial activity gave rise to two most 
interesting historical episodes, to which we 
must now give attention. They were the 
Nootka Sound controversy and the discovery 
of the Columbia. 

Nootka Sound, lying just north of the 49th 
parallel, contained several of the best harbors 
thus far discovered in the Northwest. With 



NOOTKA SOUND AND THE COLUMBIA 31 

deep, quiet water, and high rugged shores, it 
afforded ideal anchoring places for ships arriv- 
ing in distress after the long and often stormy 
passage across the Pacific. Its favorable loca- 
tion on the line of coast made it convenient, 
also, as a center for trading expeditions carried 
on to the north and south. As a result, this 
place became a kind of international resort for 
ships engaged in the fur trade. 

We have not forgotten, however, that the Spanish 
entire coast was claimed by Spain. Her title "^''^^ ^ 

-' i threatened 

was as old as the discovery of Balboa, who took by Russia 
possession of all the coasts of the Pacific as he 
stood upon the mountain peak in Darien. It 
had been strengthened at an early time by the ex- 
plorations of Cortez, Ulloa, Cabrillo, and others ; 
and later by the conquest of California, the 
northern voyages of Perez, Heceta, and Cuadra. 
But in spite of all theories of sovereignty, the 
Russians, who discovered Alaska and the adja- 
cent islands, had already pushed down the coast 
to the parallel of 60°, and according to rumors 
which had floated southward were threatening 
to go farther. Something must be done to stop 
these encroachments. In 17S8 the Spanish 
government sent out a squadron under Marti- 
nez and Haro to gather exact information con- 
cerning the doings of these Northerners. They 
did not find a Russian settlement at Nootka, as 
they had feared, but met traders of that nation 



32 A HISTORY OF THE TACIFIC NORTHWEST 

farther up the coast who spoke as if there was 
a plan to take possession of this important har- 
bor. The Spaniards learned, also, that Nootka 
was the favorite rendezvous for the British and 
other ships engaged in the northern trade. 
The Nootka On the return of the Spanish fleet to 
Sound Mexico it was at once decided to send the 

controversy 

same officers to the upper seas in the following 
year, with instructions to fortify Nootka Sound. 
This was done, but in carrying out his orders 
Captain Martinez seized two British vessels be- 
longing to a company represented by Lieuten- 
ant John Meares.^ This incident occurred in 
the summer of 1789, and resulted in a diplo- 
matic controversy and preparations for war by 
both Spain and Great Britain. When the con- 
test was ended by the so-called Nootka Conven- 
tion (November 29, 1790), Spain was no longer, 
even in theory, the sovereign of the Northwest 
Coast. By this treaty she gave up her exclu- 
sive claims, and acknowledged that British sub- 
jects had equal rights with her own to trade or 
make settlements " in places not already occu- 
pied"; that is, anywhere north of California. 

The settlement of the Nootka Sound contro- 
versy had special importance for the United 

^ Two other vessels were temporarily detainetl, but as these 
floated the Portuguese flag and were taken under difterent circum- 
stances from the ships mentioned above, it is sufficient merely to 
allude to them. The vessels over which the controversy arose 
were the Princess Royal and Armiiaiit. 



NOOTKA SOUND AxND THE COLUMBIA 33 

States. It not only secured rights of trade Effect upon 

the Ur 
States 



for British subjects, but practically opened the ^^^ ^'"''*^'^ 



North Pacific to the commerce of every nation. 
Spain never took an active interest in the fur 
trade, and after 1790 she withdrew down the 
coast to California. England, too, on account 
of the long European wars which began about 
this time, found little chance, during the next 
twenty years, to follow up the advantage she 
had gained. In the meantime, the North Pa- 
cific may almost be said to have become an 
American lake. The keen traders and daunt- 
less whalers of New England, coming up around 
Cape Horn, had taken possession, and were 
reaping a rich reward. Let us trace the origin 
and some of the most noteworthy results of this 
new activity on the Pacific coast. 

When Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth john 
(England) in July, 1776, he had on board his ^^'^y^"^ 
flagship an American named John Ledyard. 
This young sailor was a native of Connecticut, 
who had spent his youth in " the land of steady 
habits " without finding any steady or settled 
business to suit his taste. An adventurer by 
nature, he was always looking for new and 
exciting enterprises. As a youth he attended 
Dartmouth College, then a small school, located 
beyond the bounds of settlement on the upper 
Connecticut. Ledyard intended to prepare for 
missionary work among the Indians ; but after 



34 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

spending some time at college he gave up this 
plan and decided to leave the institution. He 
had been a peculiar boy in school, and he was 
more peculiar in his manner of getting home. 
Felling a great tree on the bank of the river, 
he hollowed it out to make a canoe ; then, with 
a bearskin for a bed and a few books as his 
sole companions, this enterprising navigator 
actually accomplished the long river voyage 
from Hanover, New' Hampshire, to Hartford, 
Connecticut. 

A little later he made up his mind to be- 
come a seaman, and secured a place on a ship 
belonging to the British navy. Being in Eng- 
land w^ien Cook's expedition was preparing, he 
called to see the great captain and was given the 
post of corporal of marines. His services on 
the long voyage were of great value. He was 
vigorous, alert, intelligent, and good-natured ; 
was always ready to take more than his share 
of the hard duties; and went at them with 
enthusiasm if they promised any novelties. 
While the ships were in northern waters he 
volunteered to explore the island of Onalaska, 
and in Hawaii amused himself by climbing the 
loftiest mountain peak of the island. From 
each expedition he brought back important 
information. 

After the fleet returned to Great Britain 
Ledyard was transferred to a warship, bound 



NOOTKA SOUND AND THE COLUMBIA 



35 



for Long Island Sound. This was just at the Hi 



IS return 



close of the Revolutionary War. The treaty of tiding proj- 



ect ; goes to 



peace had not been signed ; but the fighting Europe 
was over, and the young corporal felt morally 
justified in leaving the ship. He escaped to 
his old home, found the mother he had not 
seen for eight years, and related to admiring 




The Sea-otter. 

friends his thrilling stories of adventure. But 
he was not yet prepared to settle down. Indeed, 
ever since the sale by Cook's men of the sea- 
otter skins in Canton, which Ledyard wit- 
nessed, he had burned with enthusiasm to 
engage in the fur trade of the Northwest Coast. 
Here was the opportunity to gain both fame 
and fortune. If he could only get some Amer- 
ican merchant to furnish a vessel, with the 



36 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

necessary equipment, he might be first in the 
field and secure the cream of the trade. In 
trying to carry out his project, Ledyard inter- 
viewed the merchants of Boston, New York, and 
Philadelphia. It was hard to persuade these 
cautious men of business to undertake so dan- 
gerous a venture. Finally Robert Morris, then 
the greatest merchant of the United States, 
agreed to adopt the plan and enter into a part- 
nership with Ledyard for carrying it out. We 
can imagine the enthusiasm with which our 
adventurer set about his preparations. These, 
however, did not proceed far. Either because 
no suitable vessel could be secured, or for some 
other reason, the arrangement with Morris 
came to naught.^ Ledyard now determined to 
go to Europe in the hope of finding, in Spain 
or France, the mercantile support which he 
could not obtain in his native countr)^ Before 
going he published (Hartford, 1783) a little 
book which gave to the world the first general 
account of Cook's voyage. By this means and 
by his personal activity among American mer- 
chants he no doubt aroused considerable inter- 
est in the Pacific Northwest; and therefore, in 
spite of his ill success, it was not long before 

' A ship called the Empress of China was, it seems, en- 
gaged ; but for some reason her destination was changed and she 
was sent to Cliina direct in 1785. This vessel opened the Chi- 
nese trade with our eastern cities. 



NOOTKA SOUND AND THE COLUMBIA 37 

others were making similar plans for conduct- 
ing a trade from Boston to the Northwest Coast 
and to China. 

In 1787 several Boston merchants fitted out The Coium. 
two small vessels, the Columbia and the Lady '''"' ^•^'^^ ^^e 

. . Lady 

Washington, with cargoes of trinkets, bright- Washington 
colored cloth, and blankets for the Indian trade. 
They left Boston on the ist of October, under 
the command of John Kendrick and Robert 
Gray. The ships were separated on the voyage 
up the Pacific coast. The Washington traded 
with the natives, visiting Tillamook and other 
ports, and entered Nootka Sound on the i6th 
of September. There Captain Gray found two 
British ships and witnessed on September 20 
the launching of the Northivest America, con- 
structed by Lieutenant Meares, the first sea- 
going vessel built on the Northwest Coast.^ 
Three days later Kendrick arrived in the 
Columbia, and the Americans prepared to 
spend the winter at Nootka Sound. 

When spring came both vessels sailed out Trading 
to trade alono- the coast and had a successful "^'^^' , .^^^ 

^ Loltiinnia 

cruise. Mr. Haswell, one of the officers, tells saiistoChina 
us in his diary that they purchased two hun- g"g^^° 
dred sea-otter skins of one tribe in exchange 
for a chisel We do not wonder when he 

^ These British ships were the Fdicc and Iphigcnia. The 
latter, with the Northiuest America, was detained by the Span- 
iards. All these vessels carried the flaoj of Portugal. 



38 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

adds, " I was grieved to leave them so soon, as 
it appeared to be the best place for skins that 
we had seen." Aside from securing a good 
cargo, the Americans explored along Queen 
Charlotte's Island, and gained a large amount 
of information about the coast both north 
and south of Nootka. Toward the end of this 
summer all the furs thus far collected were 
taken on board the Cohimbia. Captain Gray 
then sailed in her to China, He sold his cargo, 
loaded with tea, and turning his prow westward, 
finally reached Boston (August, 1790) by way 
of the Cape of Good Hope. This w^as the 
first time that the flag of the young American 
Republic had been borne around the world. 
Later voy- After unloading his tea. Gray was sent back 
age to the ^q <^^^ Pacific, whcrc he traded up and down 

Northwest . 

Coast the coast durmg the summer of 1791, much as 

he had done two years before. The following 
winter was spent in the harbor of Clayoquot. 
There he built a small vessel, the Adventure, 
and in spring resumed his trading excursions 
with the most important and unexpected re- 
sult. 

As Gray ran southward along the coast he 
discovered (May 7) Gray's Harbor, where he 
was attacked by the natives; and on the nth of 
May (1792) entered the mouth of a great river 
in latitude 46° 10'. This he named "Colum- 
bia's River," in honor of the good ship which 



NOOTKA SOUND AiND THE COLUMBIA 41 

first stemmed its mighty current. The Cohtm- Discovery of 
bin remained in the river ten days, shifting^ her J^eCoium- 

-' ' «^ bia Kiver, 

anchorage several times, and ascending the May u, 
stream to a point "about thirty miles" above ^^^^ 
the bar. Gray " doubted not it was navigable 
upwards of 100" miles. Many Indians in their 
bark canoes were constantly about the vessel, 
eager for trade. Some of the ship's men filled 
the casks with water; others tarred and painted 
the ship; still others were engaged in making 
and repairing irons. It was a busy time, those 
May days of 1 792, when the estuary of the 
Columbia first became the scene of commerce 
conducted by civilized man. 

We can but marvel that this great discovery Faiim-e of 
should have been left for the American trader, ./'^'^'^' 

' Meares, 

when the government expeditions of Great Cook, and 
Britain and Spain had been cruising along 
those shores for many years. In 1775 the 
Spaniards had actually discovered the bay at 
the mouth of the Columbia ; but while Heceta 
suspected the existence of a river, he failed to 
enter the stream itself. Thirteen years later 
Lieutenant Meares, the English trader, who 
figures so prominently in the Nootka Sound 
affair, sailed along the line of breakers just out- 
side the bar. He named the indentation which 
he saw " Deception Bay " ; and so far from dis- 
covering that it was in fact the estuary of a 
great river, Meares went out of his way to 



42 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

declare " that no such river as St. Roc exists, 
as laid down on Spanish charts." 

Captain Cook passed up the coast in 1778 
without suspecting the presence of the river, 
and just two weeks before Gray made his 
famous discovery, Captain George Vancouver 
examined carefully the very opening through 
which the river pours its continental flood into 
the ocean. Vancouver noted simply " the ap- 
pearance of an inlet, or small river, the land 
behind it not indicating it to be of any great 
extent; nor did it seem to be accessible for 
vessels of our burden." With this reflection, 
and the statement that he did not consider " this 
opening worthy of more attention," he contin- 
ued his northward voyage. A few weeks later 
he received, at Puget Sound, the news of Gray's 
wonderful discovery. 
Broughton's Vaucouvcr scut Licutcnant Broughton to the 
exploration Columbia in October, and through him explored 
it to Point Vancouver, about one hundred miles 
from the bar. He made light of Gray's exploit, 
trying to show that the trader had not entered 
the river proper, but only the inlet at its mouth. 
The world has been more generous than this 
distinguished British navigator. It honors the 
captain of the Boston trading ship as the real 
discoverer of the Columbia, and ranks his 
achievement as one of the noteworthy events 
in the history of the Pacific Northwest. 



CHAPTER IV 

EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 

Since the first planting of colonies along the The west- 
Atlantic coast, the search for a strait had often "^^"'S"^^"^ 
taken the form of a search for a west-flowing 
river. At first it was supposed that North 
America was very narrow, and that the larger 
streams falling into the Atlantic must have 
their sources near others, flowing westward. 
The problem of a water way to the Pacific 
could be settled, therefore, by connecting the 
headwaters of an east and a west flowing 
stream. It was with this thought that King 
James required the first English colonists to 
explore the rivers of Virginia for their western 
connections. 

But nature appeared to favor the French, Frenchmen 
rather than the English colonists, with an open exp^i-rthe 
highway across the continent. Within a few Mississippi 
years after the founding of Quebec, Champlain 
had explored the Ottawa River and reached 
Lake Huron. Shortly afterward he sent his 
agent, Jean Nicolet, westward up the lakes to 
visit the Indian tribes in what is now Wiscon- 
sin. There the French learned of a great river 

43 



44 A History of the pacific northwest 

to the west, which they rejoiced to think would 
afford the long-sought passage to the South 
Sea. In 1673 Joliet and Father Marquette set 
out to explore this river. They launched their 
bark canoes at Green Bay, ascended the Fox 
River, and crossed over by a very short por- 
tage to the Wisconsin. The descent was easy, 
and in a few weeks they were floating along 
upon the broad current of the Mississippi. 
They hoped it might carry them to the South 
Sea, either at the Gulf of California or some 
more northerly point. By the time they reached 
the mouth of the Arkansas, however, the ex- 
plorers were convinced that the Mississippi was 
an Atlantic river, and that its course was almost 
directly southward to the Gulf of Mexico. A few 
years later (1682) La Salle descended to its out- 
let, and took possession of the river and valley 
for the kino^ of France. 
Effect of the The cxploratiou of the Mississippi gave an 
exp oration g,-,|-j^.g|y j-j^^y j^j^g^ gf ^|-^g magnitude of North 

America. A stream greater than any of those 
east of the Alleghanies was flowing through 
the land for two thousand miles, and draining 
a vast territory whose very existence had been 
unknown. From the eastern mountains great 
tributaries, hundreds of miles in length, added 
their waters to its flood. Other large rivers 
entered from the west, and these doubtless had 
their headsprings far away in unknown regions. 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 45 

lying toward the setting sun. The shore of 
the South Sea, so vividly present to the imagi- 
nation in these early times, receded westward 
a thousand miles. Instead of reaching it by a 
stream interlocking with the James, the Poto- 
mac, or the Hudson, the problem now was to 
find a west-flowing river near the sources of the 
Red, the Arkansas, or the Missouri. 

It was not long after the French gained con- The Mis- 
trol of the Mississippi valley, before the Mis- ^"^J^Trn 
souri came to be looked upon as the great nver 
highway to the west. French traders and 
trappers ascended its turbid waters, and gath- 
ered information from the Indians about its 
upper streams. Men were always looking for a 
way to the Pacific, and even with no prompting 
from natives or others, would have constructed 
in imagination a river flowing from near the 
head of the Missouri to the South Sea. But 
there were several good reasons for believ- 
ing in the existence of such a stream. In 
the first place, the Spaniards as early as 1603 
claimed to have found a large river entering 
the Pacific near the southern boundary of the 
present state of Oregon ; and for more than 
two hundred years they had known of a simi- 
lar stream flowino; to the Gulf of California. 
Their sources had never been seen, and it 
was reasonable to suppose that they could be 
reached from the upper Missouri. Besides, 



46 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

there were traditions among the Indians alDOut 
rivers flowing toward the sunset; and early 
in the eighteenth century, so the story runs, 
an old chief who lived on the Lower Mississippi, 
traveled for many moons in this direction until 
he reached the western ocean. French mis- 
sionaries, from the time of Marquette, dreamed 
of carrying the Gospel to the tribes on the 
west-flowing river, and other Frenchmen hoped 
to establish a line of trading posts connecting 
the Mississippi with the South Sea. It was in 
pursuing this project that Verendrye, in 1743, 
discovered the Rocky Mountains in the coun- 
try of the upper Yellowstone. 

We now come to one of the most picturesque 
figures in early western exploration, — the Ameri- 
can traveler. Captain Jonathan Carver. He was 
a Connecticut man, who had joined the Colonial 
army during the war against the French (1754- 
1 763), and had performed good service. When 
the war closed, he decided, so he says, to under- 
take a journey to the far west with the hope 
of making discoveries useful to the govern- 
ment. On this expedition Carver was absent 
more than two years, from June, 1766, to Octo- 
ber, 176S. He visited the Great Lakes and 
crossed over by the Fox and Wisconsin to the 
Mississippi. At the Falls of St. Anthony (St. 
Paul, Minnesota) he expected to prepare an 
expedition for the purpose of ascending the 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 47 

Missouri and seeking for the River of the West. 
Being disappointed in these arrangements he 
went up the St. Peter River and wintered among 
the Sioux. From these Indians he probably 
learned some details concerning the geography 




of the upper Missouri, and he may have heard 
from them the name " Oregon," or something 
like it, applied to the western river ; at least we 
are indebted to Carver for this significant word. 
He prepared a map which shows his ideas con- 



48 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



He goes 
to England 



Western 
river and 
Northeast 
Passage 



cerning the River of the West. We do not 
know how far it may have been based on infor- 
mation gained from the Indians, and how far 
it was imaginary ; but however produced, it is 
one of the most interesting maps connected 
with the early history of the Pacific North- 
west. 

On returning from his travels. Carver soon 
went to London, where he spent the latter part 
of his life. For his knowledge of the interior 
of America, a large part of which he no doubt 
drew from earlier French travelers, he became 
an object of attention from prominent men con- 
nected with the British government. He tells 
us, for instance, of interviews which he had with 
the Lords of Trade and members of Parliament. 
It is a most interesting fact that the search for 
a western river became connected, at this point, 
through Carver, with the long familiar search 
for a strait. 

We have already seen that the British gov- 
ernment was at this time anxiously seeking 
the Northwest Passage. Hearne's discoveries 
(i 769-1 772) were creating a belief that the 
passage might be found by sailing northeast- 
ward from Bering's Strait. This was what led 
the government, in 1776, to send out Captain 
Cook to the Northwest Coast. But Carver tells 
us that an expedition had been planned two 
years earlier to accomplish the same object 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 49 

in a different way. It was proposed to send 
a party of some sixty men, including sailors, 
shipbuilders and other mechanics, to Lake 
Pipin on the Mississippi. There they were to 
establish a fort or headquarters from which to 
begin the march overland along the Missouri. 
From the head waters of the Missouri they 
were to cross to the Oregon, and sail down 
that river " to the place where it is said to empty 
itself near the Straits of Anian." This party 
was to carry with them across the continent 
all the equipments necessary to build ships on 
the Pacific, establish a naval station near the 
mouth of the " River of the West," and begin 
the search for the Northeast Passage. Carver 
tells us that the plan was dropped on ac- 
count of the Revolutionary War in America, 
which broke out at this time. Instead of the 
proposed overland expedition, the British gov- 
ernment sent out Captain Cook, whose voyage 
not only added . to our knowledge of North 
Pacific geography, but also opened up the 
fur trade with all the attendant results de- 
scribed in the last chapter. Among these, the 
most important was the discovery of the river 
Oregon, concerning which Carver certainly 
knew nothing definite. 

From this time the story of westward explora- Jefferson a 
tion centers very largely in one individual, the western man 
great American statesman, Thomas Jefferson. 



50 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Jefferson's home was in the western portion 
of what is now the state of Virginia, near the 
eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 
From boyhood he had been familiar with the 
story of western adventure, and was the per- 
sonal friend of many of the men who, like 
Daniel Boone, crossed the mountains to Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Kentucky after 
its settlement remained for twenty years a part 
of Virginia, and Jefferson, as a member of the 
state legislature, or as governor of the com- 
monwealth, could not escape the necessity of 
interesting himself in everything relating to 
that section of the West. 
Jefferson the Hc was a man of broad sympathies and 
philosopher ij^|-ei^se]y activc, inquisitive mind. Of all the 
great men of his time in America, not even 
excepting Franklin, Jefferson was undoubt- 
edly the most widely informed. He loved 
science, literature, and the arts for their own 
sakes, and strove earnestly to gain at least 
a general view of every branch of knowl- 
edge. In this respect he resembled the great 
European thinkers of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. For all these reasons he is not inaptly 
called " the universal philosopher." Jefferson 
was a leading spirit in the American Philo- 
sophical Society, which aimed to gather new 
information in all departments of learning, but 
laid s])ecial stress upon everything pertaining 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 51 

to the geography, and the annual and plant 
life, of the continent. The settled portions of 
North America were already known ; but west 
of the mountains, and especially beyond the 
Mississippi, lay vast stretches of territory con- 
cerning which only vague rumors had thus far 
been received. The Great West was still a land 
of mystery and wonder, holding peculiar attrac- 
tions for a man of Jefferson's imaginative mind. 
It is refreshing to read, in his letters written 
to friends living on the western waters, requests 
for all sorts of curiosities to be found in those 
regions, — the bones of the Mammoth or Mas- 
todon, elk horns of unusual size, remarkable 
minerals and plants. He w^as always glad to 
pay the charges for transporting boxes of these 
things from the place of their discovery to 
his home at Monticello. In a letter to Philip 
Nolan, the notorious character who has been 
depicted as " the man without a country," Jef- 
ferson asked for a full account of the wild 
horses, of which large herds roamed over the 
Spanish country toward Santa Fe. This infor- 
mation, too, w^as for the American Philosophical 
Society. 

In these letters of Jefferson to western men iiis letter to 
there appears, at last, evidence of a desire to ^"^^p'"^ 
know about the w'hole region w'est of the Mis- 
sissippi and across to the Pacific Ocean. On 
the 26th of November, 1782, he wrote to a Mr. 



52 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Steptoe, asking not only for the " big bones," 
which seemed so hard to procure, but also for 
" descriptions of animals, vegetables, minerals, 
or other curious things." In addition, he would 
be glad to receive " notes as to the Indians' 
information of the country between the Missis- 
sippi and the South Sea." 
First On the 4th of December, 17S3, almost one 

proposal of ^^^ later, Jefferson wrote the now well-known 

transcon- ■' ■' 

tinentai letter to Gcorgc Rogers Clark. After men- 
journey tioning his desire to obtain the "bones, teeth, 
and tusks of the Mammoth," he says : " I find 
they have subscribed a very large sum of money 
in England for exploring the country from the 
Mississippi to California, they pretend it is 
only to promote knolege. I am afraid they 
have thoughts of colonizing into that quarter, 
some of us have been talking here in a feeble 
way of making the attempt to search that coun- 
try. But I doubt w^hether we have enough of 
that kind of spirit to raise the money. How 
would you like to lead such a party .f* tho I am 
afraid the prospect is not worth asking the 
question." 
Question of This is the first proposal made in the United 
the route Statcs for an overland journey to the Pacific. 
It could scarcely have appeared earlier, for at 
this time the treaty of peace with Great Britain, 
closing the Revolutionary War, was only three 
months old, and the last of the enemy's troops 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 53 

were just leaving the country. The treaty gave 
us the Mississippi as the western boundary of 
the United States. The great region beyond 
the river belonged to Spain, whose colonies 
extended in a broken line from New Orleans, 
through Texas, to Mexico and Santa Fe. Along 
the Pacific, as we have seen, she had a few mis- 
sions and presidios, reaching northward as far 
as San Francisco Bay. It is not at all unlikely, 
since he speaks of a British plan to reach Cali- 
fornia, that Jefferson wished George Rogers 
Clark to go to the Pacific by a southern route, 
from near the mouth of the Mississippi, but we 
cannot be certain. Three years later the far- 
seeing statesman had fixed upon the Missouri 
as the line of approach to the western sea, and 
he held to this idea until the transcontinental 
route was opened under his direction by Lewis 
and Clark. 

At this point we meet once more with the Jefferson 
adventurous Yankee, John Ledvard. In the T'\ , 

-' -^ Ledyard 

precedmg chapter we found him, after the re- 
turn of Cook's expedition, trying to persuade 
some great merchant of the Atlantic cities 
to fit him out with a ship for the Northwest 
fur trade. Failing in this Ledyard went to 
France, where he hoped to meet with better 
fortune. Again he was almost, but not quite, 
successful. Jefferson was then living in Paris 
as Minister of the United States to the court 



54 A HISTORY OF THE PACHTC NORTHWEST 

of France; and since Ledyard was always in 
need of friends, he was not long in making the 
statesman's acquaintance. We could easily infer, 
even if we did not have the testimony of both 
men to the fact, that the subjects of the North- 
west fur trade and westward explorations were 
most interesting topics of conversation at their 
frequent private meetings and the dinner parties 
of mutual friends. 
New plan to Siucc Lcdyard had failed in his trade project 
North^ he was all the more eager for some exploring 
America venturc which might bring him what he called 
"honest fame." For this purpose the western 
portion of North America offered the greatest 
inducements. In his over enthusiastic manner 
he wrote : " I die with anxiety to be on the 
back of the America States after havinq- either 
come from or penetrated to the Pacific Ocean. 
There is an extensive field for the acquirement 
of honest fame. A blush of generous regret sits 
on my cheek when I hear of any discovery there 
which I have had no part in. — The American 
Revolution invites to a thorough discovery of the 
continent. — Let a native explore its resources 
and boundaries. It is my wish to be the man." 
Jefferson wrote that Ledyard was " panting for 
some new enterprise," and he encouraged him 
in a plan to explore western North America, 
beginning at the Pacific coast. The traveler 
was " to go by land to Kamtchatka, cross in 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS WESTWARD 55 

some of the Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, 
fall clown into the latitude of the Missouri, and 
penetrate to and through that to the United 
States." ' 

Ledyard started out bravely toward the end TheSiberian 
of the year 1786. In order to reach St. Peters- j'^turn^and"^ 
burg he traveled on foot across Sweden, Fin- death 
land, and Lapland, through the blinding storms 
of an Arctic winter, nearly perishing from cold, 
hunger, and fatigue. From the Russian capital 
his journey was less difficult, and he arrived in 
northeastern Siberia before the next winter. 
There he waited, hoping to get a chance to 
sail to Nootka Sound in the spring for the 
purpose of beginning his great journey across 
the continent of America. He was used to 
disappointments ; but that which now overtook 
him was the bitterest and most terrible of all. 
The Russian government refused, in spite of 
his passport, to allow him to go forward. He 
was arrested, placed in a closed vehicle, and 
"conveyed day and night, without ever stop- 
ping to rest, till they reached Poland, where 
he was set down and left to himself." Sick 
and almost heartbroken, he made his way to 

1 Before setting out on this journey he went to London and 
was invited to take passage on a trading ship about to visit the 
Northwest Coast. Ledyard was delighted. He got on board 
with his two great dogs, his Indian pipe and hatchet, and already 
felt the thrill of being under way, when the ship was arrested by 
the government and the voyage abandoned. 



56 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Jefferson's 
return to 
America 



London, where lie arrived in May, 1788. But 
soon recovering his spirits, in a few weeks he 
was eagerly planning another exploring scheme. 
This time he proposed to search for the sources 
of the Nile, having been engaged for that pur- 
pose by the African Association in London. 
He started, reached Egypt, and was already 
looking forward to a plunge into the depths 
of the Dark Continent, when he fell sick and 
died very suddenly in November, 1788. A few 
days earlier he had written an enthusiastic 
letter to his old friend Jefferson. 

Jefferson was called home from Paris in 
1790 to become Washington's Secretary of 
State. Others were by this time thinking of 
exploring the West, and Captain John Arm- 
strong made an attempt to pass up the Mis- 
souri in the spring of 1 790 ; but reports of 
wars among the hidians turned him back. 
In 1792 Jefferson supported a scheme of the 
French botanist, Michaux, to make a journey 
to the 'Pacific ; but this also failed. Eight 
years later he was elected President of the 
United States, and then, at last, the opportu- 
nity came for carrying out his long-cherished 
project of western exploration. 



CHAPTER V 

ORIGIN OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 

When Jefferson entered upon his office of Napoleon 

alarms the 
Americans 



President, March 4, 1801, the Mississippi was ^'^'"^^^^e 



still the western boundary of the United States. 
All west of the river was supposed by Ameri- 
cans to belong to Spain, which had been in 
possession at New Orleans since 1763. As a 
matter of fact, however, the great Napoleon, 
who was then at the head of the French gov- 
ernment, had recently forced Spain to give 
back Louisiana to France, but without publish- 
ing to the world the treaty of October, 1800, 
by which this was accomplished. When the 
Americans learned, a little later, of the change 
of ownership of this western territory, and the 
prospect that France would succeed Spain at 
the mouth of the Mississippi, great alarm was 
felt throughout the country. " Perhaps nothing 
since the Revolutionary War," wrote Jefferson, 
" has produced more uneasy sensations through- 
out the body of the nation." 

A glance at the condition of the West of The western 
that time will explain why this was so. The settlements 
entire region beyond the Alleghanies was by 

57 



58 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

nature tributary to the Mississippi. It was a 
fertile land, containing rich valleys, beautiful 
plains, and far-stretching forests which once 
teemed with wild game. Daniel Boone called 
Kentucky " a second Paradise." He and other 
pioneers at first entered the region as hunters. 
Afterward thev cut a road throuQ:h the 
Shenandoah Valley and Cumberland Gap 
(" the Wilderness Road"), through which they 
brought their wagons, families, and cattle, to 
make new homes upon the western waters. 
The pioneers of Tennessee arrived at about 
the same time, just before the Revolutionary 
War, and occupied the high valleys along the 
head waters of the Tennessee River. From 
these beginnings settlement had spread rapidly, 
in spite of Indian wars and frontier hardships, 
until, in the year 1800, Kentucky had a white 
population of 180,000, and Tennessee 92,000. 
By that time Ohio had also been settled, partly 
by Revolutionary soldiers from New England, 
and already counted 45,000 people. A few 
settlers were scattered along the rivers of Ala- 
bama and Mississippi, and still others lived in 
the old dilapidated French villages of Illinois, 
Indiana, and Michigan. Wc will not be far 
wrong in placing the total white population on 
Mississippi waters in 1800 at 325,000. 

The prosperity of all these people was ab- 
West solutely in the hands of the power that con- 



Conditions 
of life in the 




Thomas Jefferson. 



59 



THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 6l 

trolled the Mississippi. At that time there 
were no canals joining the eastern and western 
streams; railroads had never been heard of; 
and the steamboat, afterward such a wonder- 
ful aid in transporting goods and passengers 
up the rivers of the West, w^as yet to be in- 
vented. Manufactured goods, articles of little 
bulk and considerable value, were carried 
across the mountains from the Atlantic sea- 
board by pack train or wagon, to supply the 
frugal wants of the frontier settlers. Cattle 
from the great ranges of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee were driven eastward to market ; but all 
the other produce of farm, mill, and factory, 
the surplus wheat, corn, pork, flour, and lumber, 
were carried to the one invariable market at 
New Orleans. The means employed in trans- 
portation was the old-fashioned "ark," or flatboat, 
made of rough plank and guided by rudder or 
setting pole. Such craft were a feature of 
every farming community in the western states. 
They were built by the farmers themselves, 
and moored in convenient streams to await 
their cargoes. Then, when harvest was over 
and the free days of autumn arrived, the 
husbandman loaded on the annual surplus, 
and with his sons or hired men floated down 
to the distant Spanish city. There he sold his 
cargo, boat and all, to secure the money needed 
to clothe his family and buy the small supply 



62 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Dependence 

on the 
jSIississippi 



S])aniards 
clijse the 
Mississippi 



of homely comforts which they had learned to 
demand. The return was by keel boat up the 
river, on the back of a Spanish pony overland, 
or by ship around to the most convenient 
Atlantic seaport. 

So long as Americans had the free use of 
the Mississippi, all was satisfactory. In theory 
this was one of our unquestioned rights ; but 
the practical fact was different, for the Span- 
iards owned the land on both banks of the 
river at its mouth, and our people were de- 
pendent on them for a place to deposit the 
produce brought down until it could be trans- 
ferred to ocean vessels. If they, or the French 
who were about to step into their places, should 
refuse to continue this right of deposit, or 
should charge a heavy toll for it, they could 
sap the very lifeblood of the American com- 
munities in the entire trans-Alleghany region. 

The Spaniards were supposed to be too 
weak to attempt this with any promise of suc- 
cess ; but France had become the dread of 
Europe, and ranked as the greatest military 
power of the world. It is not strange that 
Americans should take alarm at the prospect 
of having her as a neighbor on the west, espe- 
cially since this would mean French garrisons 
planted about New Orleans. The uneasiness 
of which Jefferson wrote was caused by the 
fear that France, when once in possession. 



Florida 



THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 63 

might undertake to oppress the Americans in 
order to estabhsh her influence over the west- 
ern people.' Just before the close of the year 
1802 the news reached Washington that a 
Spanish official at New Orleans had actually 
denied to Americans the right of deposit, 
which was guaranteed by treaty. This action 
not only increased the alarm already w^idely 
felt, but aroused the West to a desire for war 
in which many eastern people shared. 

Jefferson was by nature strongly averse to Jefferson's 
war, and would sometimes yield a s^reat deal in l^^l°, "^ 

' J o ?\ew Orleans 

order to preserve peace. In this case, however, and west 
his mind seems to have been made up. We 
must go to war rather than permit France to 
take and keep possession of the mouth of the 
Mississippi. But it would be best, he thought, 
to delay the armed conflict as long as possible, 
and meantime he would try to gain the con- 
trol of the river for the United States by the 
arts of diplomacy, in the use of which he 
was a master hand. The plan was to frighten 

1 During tlie Colonial period France held all the territory 
drained by the Mississippi, and only gave up the region between 
the river and the Alleghanies to Great Britain (1763) because 
she was compelled to do so. After the United States came 
into control of it France began scheming to get it back. This 
was one of the objects of the Genet mission in 1793, and it 
occupied the French government at other times, as the Ameri- 
cans well knew. Spaniards and English also had an ambition 
to control the region west of the Alleghanies. One such British 
plan connects with the Nootka Sound controversy. 



64 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The special 
message of 
January iS, 
1803 



Its two 
divisions. 
The first 
part 



Napoleon with a threat that the United States 
would join Great Britain in a war against 
France, and thus induce him, as a condition 
of peace, to sell us the island and city of New 
Orleans, together with West Florida. This 
would give the United States both banks of 
the Mississippi at its mouth, and insure the 
control of the river. Jefferson had already in- 
structed Robert R. Livingston, our minister to 
France, to undertake this purchase of territory 
from Napoleon ; and when the war spirit ran 
high in Congress, during the winter of 1802- 
1803, he sent James Monroe to Paris as a special 
commissioner to assist in carrying out this plan. 
At the same time Congress took measures to 
place the country in as good condition as pos- 
sible to bear the shock of a future war. 

It was under these circumstances, when the 
country was excited over affairs in the West, 
and fearful of a collision with the overshadow- 
ing power of France ; when the fate of the 
Mississippi appeared to be hanging in the bal- 
ance, and might turn either way; that Presi- 
dent Jefferson sent to Congress the now famous 
message of January 18, 1803, recommending an 
exploring expedition to the Pacific. 

This document contains two distinct parts 
which ought,' however, to be read together. 
The first part deals with questions which ap- 
parently relate wholly to Indian affairs. But 



THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION 65 

the reader of the message can readily see that 
the President's chief purpose is to provide ad- 
ditional protection to the Mississippi River. 
He felt strongly, at this time, that our interests 
would not be safe till the United States had a 
large population in the West, and especially 
along the great river itself. The government 
must encourage the westward movement in 
every proper way, and thus "plant upon the 
Mississippi itself the means of its own safety." 
But especially must an effort be made to estab- 
lish American settlements on the great stretches 
of unoccupied land immediately along the east 
bank. Since the Indian tribes owned most of 
this land, something must be done to induce 
them to part with it ; and Jefferson believed that 
the best method was to continue sellina^ them 
goods, including plows and other implements 
which had a tendency to make of the Indians an 
agricultural people. With the expansion of their 
corn fields, the growth of their herds and flocks, 
they would see the uselessness of retaining vast 
stretches of forest for hunting grounds, and 
would be glad to sell these to the government 
for money or needed supplies. That is why 
Jefferson dwells at such length upon the im- 
portance of maintaining government trading 
houses, where they already existed among In- 
dian tribes, and urges Congress to consider 
carefully the question of establishing others. 



66 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

The Mississippi River, and the question of 
how to defend it, He back of this entire dis- 
cussion. 
The second When wc comc to the second part of the 
^^" message other questions appear, but the argu- 

ment for the protection of the Mississippi is 
still present. The power of the United States 
extended only to the river itself, the great re- 
gion to the west being under the jurisdiction 
of Spain, which was about to hand over the 
country to France. Large and powerful native 
tribes hunted the buffalo upon the broad prai- 
ries which now are divided into numerous 
states, containing millions of inhabitants. The 
Indians, along the Missouri especially, were so 
closely connected with the Mississippi that, as 
the President saw, they could either help or 
harm us a great deal. He insisted that we 
ought to become better acquainted with these 
tribes. They were trading with British sub- 
jects whose headquarters were at Montreal in 
Canada. They might just as well be sending 
their beaver and other furs down the Missouri, 
and across the United States to New York or 
Baltimore. If they could be induced to trade 
with Americans, it would be to our advantage 
in every way. Those Indians would then be 
our friends instead of our enemies, and would 
serve as a protection to the Mississippi from 
the west. 



THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION Gj 

In this manner Jefferson led up to his great Agovem- 
project of sending a government expedition up jitio/^r- 
the Missouri. It was the opportunity to explore posed 
the West for which he had been waiting twenty 
years ; yet his message has very little to say 
about exploration for its own sake, and a great 
deal about commercial treaties with the Mis- 
souri River Indians. This shows simply that 
Jefferson was a practical, tactful man, who 
knew how best to approach Congress on the 
subject of an appropriation for carrying out his 
plans. "An intelligent officer," he says, "with 
ten or tw^elve men fit for the enterprise and 
willing to undertake it, might explore the whole 
line, even to the Western Ocean, have confer- 
ences with the natives on the subject of com- 
mercial intercourse, get admission among them 
for our traders, as others are admitted, agree 
on a convenient deposit for an interchange of 
articles, and return with the information ac- 
quired in the course of two summers." 

The phrase " even to the Western Ocean " The Pacific 
shows clearly that Jefferson had in mind a ^Z^.^^"!'^ 

J ■' objective 

genuine exploring expedition, such as he had point 
planned several times during the preceding 
twenty years, but was never able to obtain. 
He proposed nothing less than the opening of 
a way across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, 
and a careful scientific examination of the 
country along the route. 



68 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

The Louisi- Whcii wc remcmbcr that the message was 
ana Pur- written Oil the iSth of Janiiarv, i8o^, it becomes 

chase a _ ... 

later event plain that the exploring expedition recom- 
mended by Jefferson had nothing whatever to 
do with the Louisiana Purchase. At that time 
he had just sent Monroe to France to assist 
Livingston in the plan to purchase New 
Orleans and West Florida. Neither Jefferson 
nor any one else had thus far hoped that we 
should own the whole of Louisiana. On the 
30th of April, however, a treaty was made in 
Paris by which Napoleon transferred the entire 
region to the United States; and since the 
expedition already planned did not set out for 
more than a year, it has often been supposed 
that the purchase of Louisiana was the reason 
for sending it. This is a mistake. Congress 
had passed a bill appropriating twenty-five hun- 
dred dollars for the expedition, and President 
Jefferson had appointed its leader before it was 
known in the United States that Louisiana was 
ours.^ We are now prepared to study the 
organization of the Lewis and Clark expedition, 
and to follow the intrepid American explorers 
in their thrilling journey across the continent. 

^ This paragraph would he unnecessary but for the fact that 
hundreds of books, now in print, contain the historical error 
above mentioned. 



CHAPTER VI 

OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 

Jefferson's plan for carrying out the explor- pian of 
ing project was to appoint an army officer as organization 
leader, and let him select a few men from the 
military posts, wherever they could best be 
spared. In this way he would not only secure 
men trained to obey a commander, which was 
an important point, but would be enabled to 
fit out the expedition with very little expense ; 
for the soldiers and officers would continue to 
draw their regular pay from the military de- 
partment. His choice for the' leadership fell 
upon Meriwether Lewis, a young Virginian, captain 
brought up in the neighborhood of Monticello, Meriwether 
who had long been a favorite of Jefferson. He 
was of good family, was fairly well educated, 
and had many gifts both of mind and person. 
From boyhood Lewis had been fond of hunt- 
ing, and had made himself an excellent woods- 
man. He was also an enthusiastic student of 
plants and animals, was inured to the hardships 
and discipline of camp life, and understood the 
character and customs of the American Indians. 

For a number of years he had been in the regu- 

69 



70 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

lar army, but at this time held the office of 
private secretary to the President. His quaHfi- 
cations were admirable in so many respects, 
that in spite of some lack of scientific training, 
Jefferson "could have no hesitation in confiding 




Meriwether Lfavis. 



the enterprise to him." He knew Lewis to be 
"honest, disinterested, of sound understanding, 
and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that what- 
ever he should report would be as certain as 
if seen by ourselves." Besides, he was "steady 
in the maintenance of discipline," and would be 
"careful as a father of those committed in his 
charge." 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 71 

It was at Lewis's suggestion that the Presi- wiiiiam 
dent appointed a second officer to share the ^^^^^ 
command of the party, and the man to fill the 
post was also selected by the young captain. 
By a curious chance the individual chosen was 




W^iLiJAM Clark. 



William Clark, younger brother of the cele- 
brated western general, George Rogers Clark, 
to whom Jefferson had made the first proposal 
of an overland journey to the Pacific in 1783. 
Like Lewis, Clark was a man of military ex- 
perience, having served under General Wayne 
(" Mad Anthony ") in the campaign against the 
Ohio Lidians. He had traveled widely in 



72 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

the West, on several occasions even crossing 
the Mississippi. Clark was a few years older 
than Lewis, and differed from him in being 
less imaginative and enthusiastic ; but in all 
respects he was a worthy companion, splendidly 
qualified to share the responsibility of the great 
enterprise. The two leaders were peculiarly 
fitted to work together harmoniously, and did 
so from the beginning to the end of the expedi- 
tion. " Throughout all the trying experiences 
of the three years during which they w^ere 
united, their respect and friendship for each 
other but deepened and strengthened — a 
record far from common among exploring 
parties. 

Instructions. Jcffcrsou personally prepared the instruc- 
tions which were to govern the leaders in their 
work. " The object of your mission," he wrote 
to Lewis, " is to explore the Missouri River and 
such principal streams of it as, by its course 
and communication with the waters of the 
Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, 
Colorado, or some other river, may offer the most 
direct and practical water communication across 
the continent for the purpose of commerce." 

Notes and They wcrc to keep careful records day by 

day of the distances traveled and the points of 

^ Quoted from Rcul)en Gold Thwaites, '' Rocky Mountain Ex- 
ploration with Special Reference to Lewis and Clark," New York, 
1904, p. 105. 



The main 

object 



records 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 73 

interest along the route. All noteworthy geo- 
graphical features, such as the mouths of tribu- 
tary rivers, rapids, falls, and islands, were to be 
accurately located with respect to latitude and 
longitude, so that a correct map of the rivers 
followed and the portage between them could 
be drawn from the explorer's notes. The 
President suggested that several copies of these 
notes should be made in order to guard against 
their loss by accident; and also "that one of 
these copies be on the cuticular membranes of 
the paper-birch as being less liable to injury 
from damp than common paper." The officers 
were urged to induce as many of the men as 
possible to keep diaries, and several of them 
did so. 

Full instructions were given about dealing Dealing 
with the Indian tribes along the route, the ex- '^^'''^ Indians 
plorers being required to " treat them in the 
most friendly and conciliatory manner which 
their own conduct will admit " ; they were to 
impress upon the red men that the United 
States was not only their friend, but that she 
was a great and strong power able to afford 
them full protection. If possible, they should 
arrange to have a few influential chiefs visit 
Washinfjton. 

The President made his instructions complete other 
enough to cover every detail of the work pro- "^^"'^'^^ 
posed. Climate, soil, plants, animals, curious 



74 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

geological remains, Indian legends — all these 
and other matters were to be kept in mind, and 
all possible information secured concerning 
them. " Should you reach the Pacific Ocean," 
he said, " inform yourself whether the furs of 
those parts may not be collected as advanta- 
geously at the head of the Missouri ... as at 
Nootka Sound or any other point of that coast." 
If so, the trade not only of the Missouri and 
Columbia, but of the Northwest Coast as well, 
might be carried across the continent to the 
eastern seaboard of the United States. One 
of the most pleasing paragraphs in the instruc- 
tions is that in which the kindly Jefferson says 
to Lewis, " We wish you to err on the side of 
your safety, and to bring back your party safe, 
even if it be with less information." 
Prepaia- Captain Lewis spent several weeks in Phila- 

l\"^^' . delphia, under scientific instructors, and then 

(lathenng ^ ' 

the party sct out for the Wcst. Hc cxpcctcd to get 
under way up the Missouri before the end of 
the year 1803. But delays at Pittsburg, where 
a drunken boat builder kept him waiting a 
month, and difficulties in navigating the Ohio 
during low^ water, wore away the summer. 
Clark joined him in Kentucky, and at several 
of the western posts soldiers w^ere enlisted for 
the journey. Of these there were four sergeants 
and twenty-three privates, including nine Ken- 
tucky hunters. Two French interpreters, the 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 75 

Indian wife of one of these (Sacajawea), and 
Clark's burly negro, York, completed the party. 
Sixteen additional soldiers and water men were 
engaged to accompany the expedition as far as 
the villages of Mandan Indians/ 

The winter of 1S03-1804 was passed in camp The first 
at the mouth of the river Du Bois, opposite the ^^"'^"^ 
Missouri. Captain Clark spent most of his 
time in drilling the men, building boats, and 
making other necessary arrangements about 
the establishment ; while Lewis purchased sup- 
plies at St. Louis, and gathered information 
concerning the route from traders who thus 
early were familiar with the river as far as the 
Mandan villages. He frequently visited the 
American officers, and other persons of note 
in the little French hamlet, so soon to become 
an important American town. On the 9th of 
March he witnessed the ceremony of lower- 
ing the foreign flag and raising the emblem of 
our own country over the territory of upper 
Louisiana. 

By the 14th of May the final touches had been The start, 
given to the preparations, and the exploring ^aCharette 
party commenced the historic journey across 
the continent. Their supplies, instruments, 

^ The muster roll of the party, on leaving Fort Mandan, is 
given in Coues's '' Lewis and Clark Expedition," New York, 1891, 
I, p. 253, note. Much interesting matter on the persons com- 
posing the party is contained in Eva Emery Dye's "Conquest," 
Chicago, 1902. 



u[)-nver 
traders 



•je A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

articles for trade and presents for the Indians, 
were carried in a flotilla consisting of three 
boats : one was a keel boat of twenty-two oars, 
with deck, sail, and breastworks ; the other two 
were small craft, of six and seven oars respec- 
tively. Many of the leading citizens of St. 
Louis turned out to see them off. All recog- 
nized the importance of the enterprise, and 
delifjhted to honor the men who were braving 
untold dangers in order to open a highway to 
the shores of the Pacific. As the boats toiled 
up the swift-flown ng Missouri they were often 
hailed from the banks by groups of French 
settlers, and sometimes by companies of Ameri- 
cans who were already beginning to emigrate 
to this newly opened region of the West. At 
St. Charles they made a halt of several days, 
and it was not till the 25th of May that the 
explorers passed La Charette, the home of 
Daniel Boone, and the last settlement on the 
Missouri. From this point their path lay 
wholly within the Lidian country. 
They meet On the 5th of Juuc they "met a raft of two 
canoes joined together, in which tw^o French 
traders were descending from eighty leagues 
up the Kansas River, where they had wintered 
and caught great quantities of beaver." Nine 
days later they encountered another party of 
traders coming down from the Platte. The 
4th of July was celebrated by the firing of the 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC JJ 

big gun, and apparently in other ways, for one 
of the journaUsts says that a man was snake- 
bitten. 

On the east side of the Missouri, near the Indian 
mouth of the Platte River, Lewis and Clark "^""'^^>i = 

Council 

held councils with the Oto and Missouri Bluff ; 
Indians, giving the chiefs medals to hang about Shades 
their necks, distributing flags, and leaving other fioyd 
tokens of American supremacy. The place of 
the gathering they named Council Bluff, noting 
that here was a good situation for a fort and 
trading house. The soil was good for brick, 
wood was convenient, and the air was "pure 
and healthy." One other incident of this part 
of the journey is deserving of notice. On the 
2oth of August, when the party was passing 
the site of the present Sioux City, Sergeant 
Charles Floyd died and was buried by his 
companions near the river. This is the only 
death that occurred on the entire journey. 

The country afforded little variety of land- Missouri 
scape as day by day the exploring party moved ^^'^^'^ ^^^^' 
along the course of the Missouri. Almost Buffalo 
everywhere was the narrow fringe of forest, 
running down to the water's edge, while here 
and there a wood-covered island divided the 
current of the river. Parallel to the stream, 
and at varying distances from it, low ranges 
of hills separated the valley from the broad 
prairie beyond. Deep ravines, cutting across 



78 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

the line of bluffs, opened natural highways 
from river to upland, and these were often worn 
down by the hoofs of the buffalo, which regu- 
larly followed such paths in search of water. 
Immense herds of these animals were seen, and 
many were slain by the hunters, adding not a 
little to the good cheer that enlivened the 
evening camp. 
Arrival at About the cud of Octobcr they reached the 

the Mandan yijiao-es of thc Maudau Indians, within the pres- 

villages. ^ _ ^ 

Fort ent boundaries of North Dakota. The sharp 

^"''^" night frosts warning them of approaching win- 
ter, it was decided to establish quarters here. 
A site was chosen, cottonwood and elm loo^s 
brouoht from the river bottom, and a "fort" 
built. This consisted simply of two rows of 
rude blockhouses, placed in the form of a 
letter " V," with shed roofs rising from the inner 
sides. A row of strong posts, or palisades, com- 
pleted the triangle. Such was Fort Mandan, 
where Lewis and Clark spent the long, severe, 
yet busy and not unpleasant winter of 1804- 1805. 
Many things required to be done. There were 
notes to copy, reports to write, maps to draw ; 
articles of interest found on the trip up the 
Missouri must be prepared for submission to 
the President ; new boats were needed for the 
The winter's upward journcy. These preparations occupied 
Z''^^ the leaders durino^ a larore part of the winter; 

ISntish r^ & I 

traders but tlicy took occasiou, also, to visit all of the 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 79 

surrounding Indian tribes, and to make the 
best arrangements possible concerning future 
trade with the Americans. British traders 
from the far north visited them at Mandan 
during the winter, and carried back to the 
posts of the Northwest Company and to Mon- 
treal the news that an American party was 
on its way to the Pacific.^ 




Great Falls of the Missouri. 



In March the thaw came, and soon the Mis- Up the 



Missouri 
again. 



souri was once more free of ice. On the 

7th of April, after starting the keel boat down TheVeiiow- 

the river, the eager travelers proceeded on 

their way, rejoicing in the expectation of soon 

beholding the River of the West, and the great 

^ It is probable that this news stimulated the Northwest Com- 
pany to hasten explorations, which its agents had already begun, 
on the west side of the Rockies. 



8o A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

ocean which was the object of their search. 
Before the month closed they passed the mouth 
of the Yellowstone, where the plains were " ani- 
mated by vast herds of buffalo, deer, elk, and 
antelope," usually so tame that they allowed 
the hunter to come very near them, " and often 
followed him cjuietly for some distance." Bea- 
ver, too, were especially abundant here. From 
Indian travelers Lewis obtained a good ac- 
count of the Yellowstone, and the country 
throuo-h which it flows. Near its confluence 
with the Missouri was " a situation highly eligi- 
ble for a trading establishment." 
The grizzly One fomi of game found in this region was 
CHherterrors ^'^tl'ie^" tamer than the explorers desired it to be, 
the grizzly bears, with which they had many 
thrilling encounters. On one occasion, when 
he had just discharged his rifle at a buffalo, Cap- 
tain Lewis discovered one of these terrible ani- 
mals rushing furiously toward him, with jaws 
distended, ready to tear him in pieces. There 
were no trees at hand, and the captain had 
barely time to reach the river bank and leap 
into the water, when he was able to frighten 
the beast off with his halberd. Other terrors 
were not wanting. A buffalo bull storming 
through camp after dark, a night fire and fall- 
ing tree trunk, dangerous rapids, the upsetting 
of a boat — these are but hints to indicate the 
nature of the experiences with which the days 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 8 1 

and nights were filled, as the explorers pushed 
on through this wild but interesting region, 
toward the sources of the great Missouri. 




MULTONOMAH FALLS. 



After some difficulty at the Three Forks, The inter- 
they ascended what they called the Jefferson [^^^^"^ 
branch, and on the 12th of August Captain 
Lewis, with one division of the party, arrived 
at the headsprings of the river, high up near 



shones. 
Sacajawea 



82 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

the summit of the Rockies, in a spot " which 
had never yet been seen by civihzed man." On 
the same day he crossed over to " a handsome 
bold creek of cold, clear water," Jlowiug west- 
ward. The interlocking rivers, one flowing to 
the Atlantic, the other to the Pacific, had at 
last been found. 
The sho- It was uot loug bcforc he discovered a party 

of Shoshone Indians, from whom, after much 
delay, horses were procured for the journey to 
the navi2:able waters of the Columbia. At 
this point the Indian woman, Sacajawea, proved 
extremely helpful, for she belonged to the tribe 
of Shoshones and turned out to be the sister 
of a leading chief. 
Character of The cxplorcrs wcrc now face to face with 
sJr?fthe ^^^^ most serious problem encountered during 
Rockies the journcy. The western slope of the Rockies 
differed greatly from the eastern in being much 
more rugged and precipitous, with deep canons 
through which the rivers rushed and swirled 
for great distances, until finally, on emerging 
from the mountains, they became navigable for 
boats. The travelers had been able to ascend 
the Missouri, to its source, with comparative 
ease ; following along the river valley, which 
was usually free from serious obstructions, a 
plain and easy path, sloping so gradually that 
it appeared to be almost level. Now they must 
make their way over sharp ridges, through ter- 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 85 

rific mountain defiles, choked with fallen tim- 
ber and masses of rock debris. Moreover, 
they had no satisfactory way of determining problem of 
what route to take, or how far they would be ^^^ ^^^^ 
obliged to travel before reaching navigable 
water. It was necessary to follow the advice 
of their Shoshone friends to some extent, but 
the leaders soon found that this could not be 
altogether relied upon. 

As a preparatory step, Captain Clark ex- ciark dis- 
plored a way down Salmon River to its junction ^°'^^''^^"^. 

■I J ■> names Lewis 

with a larger river to which he gave the name River 
of his friend Lewis.^ But he learned that this 
stream was unnavigable for many miles below 
the point reached, and that it would be impos- 
sible to follow its course throuQ-h the canon. 
He therefore returned, and the explorers de- 
cided to cross over to the river which flowed 
northward (Clark's Fork). This they would fol- 
low to a point below, where an Indian road, the 
Lolo Trail, was said to cross the Bitter Root 
Mountains to the mouth of the north branch 
of the Clearwater. For nearly a month they 
threaded dark forests, over steep hills, rocks, 
and fallen trees ; made their way along danger- 
ous cliffs; crossed raging torrents, whose icy 

^ It is now commonly called " Snake River," a name distasteful 
in itself, and possessing no significance. In this volume the 
original name, appropriately conferred by the explorer in honor 
of his friend and companion one hundred years ago, will be used 
throughout. 



86 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Navigating 
the Colum- 
bia to the 
sea 



waters chilled both men and animals. Some- 
times they encountered storms of sleet and 
snow, again the " weather was very hot and 
oppressive." Most of the men became sick, 
and all were much reduced in strength. Food 




The Dalles. 

Mount Hood in the distance. 



was so scanty that they were compelled to kill 
and eat some of the travel-worn horses. 

At the place where the north fork of the 
Clearwater joins the river of that name, the 
party prepared five canoes, and on the morning 
of the 7th of October entered upon the last 
stage of their eventful journey. The difficulties 
of travel were nearly over; for the boats glided 
swiftly down the current, and ten days brought 
them to the confluence of the Lewis and Co- 
lumbia. Here they were greeted by a proces- 



shadow of 
Mt. Hood 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 89 

sion of two hundred Indians, marchino- in their 
honor to the music of primitive drums. In 
two weeks they passed the Great Falls (Celilo), under the 
Long Narrows (Dalles), and Cascades, reaching 
on the 2d of November the tide-water section 
of the river. Then, on the 7th of November, 
they heard the breakers roar, and saw, spread- 
ing and rolling before them, the waves of the 
western ocean — " the object of our labors, 
the reward of all our anxieties." 

The purpose of the expedition had been Establish 
achieved. A hiHiwav across the continent of ^^^^^'^ 

c> J ^ quarters. 

North America was now an established fact, i^ort ciatsop 
and all that remained to be done was to carry 
back the news of the great discovery. Jeffer- 
son had instructed Lewis to find, if possible, a 
ship on the Pacific by which some or all of the 
party might return to the United States with 
the journals of the expedition. But, while 
traders often entered the Columbia, as the 
natives testified, no vessel appeared during the 
winter of 1805- 1806. All that could be done 
was to spend the rainy season on the Oregon 
coast, and take up the return march overland in 
the spring. At a place three miles above the 
mouth of the Netal (now called Lewis and 
Clark River), on the " first point of high land 
on its western bank," the explorers erected a 
low-roofed log building, to which, in honor of 
the neighboring tribe of Indians, they gave the 



90 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

name of Fort Clatsop.^ The location was by 
no means ideal, for the party was in need of 
food, and in this region game was not veiy 
plentiful. The winter at Fort Clatsop was 
therefore a time of real hardship,. relieved by 
the hope of a speedy return to homes beyond 
the mountains. The shelter was completed 
on the last day of December ; the next morning 
"a volley of small arms" was fired "to salute 
the new year." Some of the men were kept 
busy hunting the lean elk, on which the party 
was forced to subsist ; others were sent to the 
seacoast — seven miles distant — to manufacture 
a supply of salt. At the fort the officers busied 
themselves with the notes and journals of the 
Completing expedition. On the nth of February Clark 
the great finished the great map of the overland route, 
so often printed, and a copy of a part of which 
is found on next page. A little trade with the 
Chinooks and Clatsops (mainly for dogs, fish, 
and wapato roots) formed the chief diversion 
during this tedious winter. 

1 Tlie Netal enters Meriwether's, now called Young's, Bay. 
The fort was located two hundred yards from the bank of the 
river. It was in the form of a square, 50 x 50 feet. Two cabins, 
one of three, the other of four, rooms, occupied two sides. Be- 
tween them was the parade ground, the ends of which were 
closed by means of posts or palisades. In the June (1904) num- 
ber of Scribner's Magazine, Mr. Reuben Gold Thwaites pub- 
lishes for the first time the ground plan of Fort Clatsop. The 
drawing was found by him while searching recently among Clark's 
papers, "traced upon the rough elk-skin cover of his field book." 



map 




9? ^^7 o w ■' 



91 



92 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The return 
begun 
March 23, 
1S06 



The days dragged painfully by till the 23d of 
March, when our travelers commenced the home- 
ward journey. Before setting out they distrib- 
uted written statements among the Indians, 
explaining who it was that had so mysteriously 
come to their country from the land of the 
rising sun. These the natives were instructed 
to show to any white men who should visit the 
river. The journey eastward was not without 
its diflficulties. The tribes along the river de- 
manded high prices for horses and dogs, and 
the stock of goods carried by the explorers was 
soon exhausted. But both Lewis and Clark 
were skilled in the use of common remedies 
for the diseases which prevailed among the 
Indians, and by selling their drugs at a high 
price they were able to buy the supplies which 
were indispensable to them. The snow still 
lay deep in the gulches when the party reached 
the western base of the Rocky Mountains, im- 
peding their progress for many days ; but in 
Arrive at St. spitc of all obstaclcs, they made the journey 
Louis Sep- ^^,j^|^ complete success, reaching St. Louis on 

tember 23, '■ • • 1 r 

1806 the 23d of September, just six months out trom 

the mouth of the Columbia.^ 

1 Captain Lewis went at once to Washington to make his re- 
port to President Jefferson. Soon afterward he was appointed 
governor of Missouri Territory, but died very suddenly and mys- 
teriously, in 1809, at the early age of thirty-five. 

Captain Clark was for many years the United States superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs for the West, with headquarters at St. 
Louis. He died in 1838. 



OPENING A HIGHWAY TO THE PACIFIC 93 

The journals of the expedition, very much amended and 
abbreviated, were first published in 1814 under the editorship of 
Nicholas Biddle. Many editions, based upon this one, have 
appeared since that time, the most satisfactory being that by Dr. 
Elliott Coues, New York, 1891, 3 vols. A new edition, containing 
a literal transcript of the complete journals, and much matter 
relating to the expedition not hitherto published, is now being 
issued under the editorship of Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D. 



CHAPTER VII 

A RACE FOR THE COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 

American The explorations of Lcwis and Clark, to- 

[nterests" gcthcr witli Gray's discovery of the Columbia, 

\vestofthe gave the United States a good claim upon the 

country west of the Rockies, drained by this 

river and its branches. But in order to hold it 

permanently, as against other nations of the 

world, it would be necessary for Americans to 

take actual possession of the region. Here was 

a difficulty. The recently purchased territory 

of Louisiana had doubled the area of the 

United States, and would furnish homes for 

millions of families. Emigrants would find no 

need to cross the Rockies for many years to 

come. 

The chances There was but one way in which Americans 

a'bk fur° ^' ^ould make use of the newly explored territory, 

trade and that w^as by trading with its native peoples. 

Lewis and Clark found, along the Columbia 

and its tributaries, numerous tribes of Indians, 

living upon fish, game, and roots.^ Most of 

^ Hundreds were seen drying sahiion at various points along 
the river, and the Dalles was the great fish market of the 
Columbia. 

94 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 95 

them were wretchedly poor, lacking every com- 
fort, and many of those things which civilized 
men regard as necessaries. Yet the streams 
were full of beaver, and if traders should once 
begin to frequent the up-river valleys, as they 
already did the inlets along the coast, these 
Indians would soon take to hunting furs in 
order to have something to exchange for the 
goods they all coveted. Had our people been 
prepared for it, a large business might have 
been built up in that region. 

But at the time of Lewis and Clark's return American 
the Americans were not ready to take advan- ^l^^^^^' 
tage of these opportunities. The fur trade as organization 
a business was as old as the American colonies. 
From Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay; from 
the Connecticut, Hudson, Potomac, James, and 
Savannah rivers ; it had spread westward with 
great rapidity, always keeping in advance of the 
actual settlement. Long before the Revolution- 
ary War the Indians on the western waters 
had learned to listen for the tinkling bells of 
the trader's pack train as it emerged from the 
passes of the Alleghany Mountains. Almost 
everywhere " the Indian trade pioneered the 
way for civilization." ' It improved the trails, 
which afterward became roads ; it planted its 
trading posts at important points along the 

1 Quoted from Frederick J. Turner, "The Significance of the 
Frontier in American History.'' " 



96 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The British. 
Hudson's 
Bay and 
Northwest 
Fur com- 
panies 



rivers, or upon the Great Lakes, and these in 
many cases were growing into great towns.^ 
This trade had, therefore, been of the utmost 
importance in American history; and in spite 
of the government trading houses, which had 
existed for a few years, it was still important. 
With the opening up of the Missouri by Lewis 
and Clark it promised to extend itself rapidly 
to the Rocky Mountains ; but for making use 
of the country to the west of the Rockies our 
traders were at a disadvantage in not having a 
thorough organization, with a large capital and 
strong commercial support. These would be 
absolutely necessary in conducting operations 
at such distances, by means of ships upon the 
Pacific, and large trading houses in the west- 
ern territory. 

In the British section cf North America con- 
ditions were different. There we find two great 
companies, each with a large capital and power- 
ful organization, fitted to control the trade of 
vast wilderness areas. The first of these was 
the Hudson's Bay Company, whose forts near 
the mouths of the rivers flowing into Hudson 
Bay received each year about seventy-five thou- 
sand beaver skins, brought down from the far 

1 '• The trading posts reached by these trails were on the sites 
of Indian villages . . . ; and these trading posts . . . have grown 
into such cities as Albany. Pittsburg, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, 
Council Bluffs, and Kansas City." — Turner, " Significance of the 
Frontier," etc. 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 97 

interior in great fleets of canoes, manned by hun- 
dreds of Indians,^ The second was the North- 
west Company, with headquarters at Montreal. 
It was the successor of the French traders 
of Canada, and, although young (organized in 
1787), had already gained control of most of 
the trade along the Great Lakes, the Assini- 
boin, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca rivers; 
while its ao-ents were to be found on the 
Upper Mississippi and the Missouri as well. 

By a series of wonderful explorations, Alexan- The North- 
der Mackenzie, an ofificer of the Northwest Com- '""'' ^'''"'" 

' pany crosses 

pany, had even opened a way for the trade to the Rocky 
the Arctic Ocean (along the Mackenzie River, 
explored by him in 1789) and across the Rocky 
Mountains to the Pacific.'^ In 1806, having 

^ The Hudson's Bay Company received a charter from Charles 
the Second in i66g. In 1742 a thousand Indians came to the mouth 
of Nelson River in six hundred canoes, bearing fifty thousand 
beaver skins; while during the same summer the fort on Churchill 
River received twenty thousand beaver and several thousand 
other furs. The natives carried back blankets, guns, powder, 
shot, hatchets, knives, tobacco, brandy, and paint. Prices of 
goods were very high. A pound of gunpowder cost four bea- 
ver skins, and a blanket twelve. The skins were sold at the rate 
of six shillings per pound. It is declared that some of the goods 
sold at a profit of two thousand per cent. 

^ Mackenzie crossed the Rockies from the head of Peace River 
in the spring of 1793. After incredible difficulties he found a 
river flowing westward, which he supposed to be the Columbia. 
(It was, in fact, the Fraser River.) This he descended for a 
number of days, when he left it, and followed an Indian trail to 
the coast. There he painted on a smooth rock in these words 
the story of his great achievement, •' Alexander Mackenzie, 



98 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

learned of Lewis and Clark's expedition, the 
company sent Simon Fraser to this western 
district. He built a fort high up on a river 
navigated by Mackenzie, believing, as the ex- 
plorer did, that this was the Columbia. Two 
years later Fraser descended to its mouth 
and found out his mistake. It was then 
called Fraser River. The Northwest Com- 
pany had now obtained a foothold among the 
tribes west of the Rockies, and were moving 
slowly, yet surely, toward the great river. A 
few years would see many log trading forts 
upon its upper streams, and none could doubt 
that the ambitious " Northwesters " hoped at 
last to control the entire trade of the Columbia 
valley. 
Mackenzie's Mackenzie himself had a plan by which a 
great trad- gincrle compauv, fomicd by a union of the 

ing project o i y ' j 

Northwest and Hudson's Bay companies, 
should gather the fur harvest of half of the 
continent. They were to have ships on both 
oceans to trade along the coasts, and carry 
away the furs collected at two great central 
stations located, the one at the mouth of Nel- 
son River (on Hudson Bay), the other at the 
estuary of the Columbia. By establishing posts 
throughout the interior he expected this giant 
monopoly to control the trade from the parallel 

from Canada, by Land, tlie twenty second of July, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and ninety three.'' 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 99 

of 45° to the Arctic Ocean/ The reader may 
smile at Mackenzie's project, and set it down 
as the dream of an enthusiast ; yet twenty years 
later events occurred in the history of the fur 
trade which, as we shall see, almost literally 
fulfilled these plans. Meantime, however, others 
aside from the Canadians became interested in 
the western fur trade, and in the race which 
now ensued an American, rather than a British, 
fort was planted at the mouth of the Columbia. 

In the city of New York, at that time not John Jacob 
yet the metropolis of the country, John Jacob "^^'^"^ 
Astor ranked as a merchant prince. For twenty- 
five years his ships had sailed the high seas, 
visiting all the great markets of Europe, and 
his name was known and honored in every 
commercial center of the world. Mr. Astor 
early began to buy and sell furs, finding this 
one of the most profitable branches of trade. 
His cargoes were made up largely in Montreal, 
the headquarters of the Northwest Company, 
where beaver skins were received from hundreds 
of trading posts, planted upon lake and river 

^ Except that portion of the Pacific coast on which the Rus- 
sians were established. Mackenzie desired a union of the two 
British companies partly on account of the increased financial 
strength that this would give, and partly because the Hudson's 
Bay Company had a charter while the Northwest Company had 
none. The Nelson River was the best and shortest route from 
the interior to the Atlantic, and the Columbia was '"the line of 
communication from the Pacific pointed out by nature." (See 
Mackenzie's Voyages, London, 1801, pp. 407 fF.) 



100 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

as far west as the Rocky Mountains. Being 
a shrewd and quick-witted man, Astor soon 
- learned all the details of the business carried 
on by this company, not only at Montreal, 
but through the long stretches of wilderness 
as well. 
Astor'strad- When Lcwis and Clark returned from their 
ingprojet ^vondcrful joumcy, with information about the 
route to the Pacific and the opportunities for 
trade along the Missouri and Columbia rivers, 
Mr. Astor at once planned a brilliant trad- 
ing project, similar in many ways to that of 
Mackenzie. He believed it would be possi- 
ble, with his large capital and tested business 
ability, to at least gain control of the trade over 
a broad belt of country stretching from the 
Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean. The first 
point was to push westward to the Mississippi 
and Missouri. For this purpose he organized 
(1808) the American Fur Company, in which 
Astor himself was the principal stockholder. 
He next proposed to establish a central station, 
at the mouth of the Columbia, for the trade of 
the region lying beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
and build a line of trading posts extending 
along the route explored by Lewis and Clark 
from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi.' He 

1 Astor had already begun a trade along the Great Lakes, so 
that practically the great depot on the Pacific would be connected 
with his business office in New York. 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE lOI 

planned to send from New York every fall one 
ship freighted with goods for the Indian trade, 
and supplies for all the posts west of the Rocky- 
Mountains. On arriving in the Columbia, 
about February or March, she was to unload 
this portion of her cargo and sail along the 
coast to gather the sea otter and other furs 
which the natives had long been accustomed 
to sell to American shipowners. This cruise 
was to be extended as far north as Sitka, for 
the purpose of carrying supplies to the Russians 
in exchange for their furs.^ Thereafter she 
was to return to the Columbia. Meantime, 
in May or June, the traders from the interior 
posts would have delivered at the central sta- 
tion all the furs secured during the preceding 
winter on the rivers flowing into the Columbia. 
These were then to be placed on board the 
vessel, which would sail to Canton during the 
following winter. The cargo of furs was to be 
exchanged for an equally valuable cargo of silks, 
tea, and other Chinese goods, with which the 
Astor ship was expected to return to New York 
after an absence of about two years. 

^ At Sitka (New Archangel) the Russian American Fur Com- 
pany collected furs from the neighboring islands, the Alaskan 
coast, and tlie interior. But they had very poor facilities both 
for marketing their product and obtaining necessary supplies. 
They were glad of the opportunity to make arrangements with 
Mr. Astor by which their furs were to be carried to the Can- 
ton market and regular supplies brought to New Archangel. 



102 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

He sends Such was the plan worked out in all its 

ih^Ton^ui,, ^|g|-^^}]g ]3y Mj-_ ^sl-Qi- before any i^art of it was 

to the Co- _ -^ _ ■' ^ 

lumbia put ioto Operation. In the summer of 1810 he 

fitted out his first ship, the Tonqtiin, for the 
voyage around Cape Horn. She was placed in 
charge of Captain Jonathan Thorn, and left 
New York under the convoy of the famous 
American warship Constitiition. On board 
the Tonquin were several of the partners of the 
Pacific Fur Company, organized by Mr. Astor 
to carry out his project. Most of these were 
engaged in Canada, among the men belonging 
to the Northwest Company. The clerks, too, 
were nearly all Canadians.^ The Tonquin left 
New York on the 6th of September, 18 10, 
rounded Cape Horn in December, and two 
months later arrived at the Hawaiian Islands. 
The voyage thus far had been without serious 
accident, but marred by almost ceaseless quar- 
reling between the captain and the Canadian 
partners. While a good disciplinarian, and 
doubtless a very successful commander on a 
ship of war. Captain Thorn was not well quali- 
fied to manage a group of independent Scotch 
and American fur traders. 

Arrival at Whcu thc ship arrivcd off the mouth of the 

the Colum- ^ . . ._ ^ , 

bia;Ast(nia Columbia, March 22, 181 1, new difficulties 

^ Fur a deliglitful account of the way these Canadians went 
down to New York, by ijoat. to await the sailing of the Tonquin, 
see Franchere's Narrative, New York, 1854, pp. 23-25. J 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 103 

arose. The waves were running high, and the 
line of breakers across the entrance to the 
river struck terror to the hearts of inexperi- 
enced sailors. Yet the captain sent out men 
in the ship's boat to sound the channel, a pro- 
ceeding in which seven of the little company- 
lost their lives. Three days passed before the 
Touquiu crossed the bar and anchored safe in 




Astoria. 

As it was in 1813. 



the river. Then the Astor party selected a site 
for their fort, and began the erection of the 
Pacific coast emporium of the fur trade, which 
was appropriately named Astoria. " Spring, 
usually so tardy in this latitude," says Fran- 
chere, "was already well advanced; the foliage 
was budding, and the earth was clothing itself 
with verdure. We imaoined ourselves in the 
garden of Eden." 



I04 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Fateofihe Oil the 5th of Jiinc the Tonquin left the 
oiiqn n j-jygj- qj-^ \-^q^- northern cruise in search of furs.' 
From this voyage she never returned, nor did 
a single one of the fated men who sailed in her 
from Astoria live to tell the gruesome story 
of the Tonquiiis destruction. That awful tale 
is known only from the report of a Gray's Harbor 
Indian, who was taken on board as an inter- 
preter to the northern tribes, and who escaped 
death w^hen the ship was blown to atoms, with 
several hundred natives on board, in the bay 
of Clayoquot. She had entered that harbor to 
trade ; the Indians brought their furs, and for 
some time the deck was animated by the 
varied scenes of peaceful barter. Finally, a 
slight difficulty between the captain and a lead- 
ino' chief sent the visitors back to their boats 
in an angry state. Next day they returned, 
pretending friendship, and holding up their 
bundles of furs in token of a desire to trade. 
A number came on board at once ; others fol- 
lowed, till the deck was crowded. At a given 
signal they drew their knives, till then con- 
■ cealed, and rushed upon the hapless crew, 
quickly killing all but five, who had been 

1 One of tlie partners, Mr. Alexander Mackay, was on l)oar(l as 
chief trader. He was a former Northwest Company man, and 
had been the companion of Mackenzie on his famous journey to 
the Pacific in 1793. He was a man of ability, very popular among 
his associates^ and his death in the Tonquin disaster was deeply 
lamented. 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 105 

ordered into the rigging to unfurl the sails. 
These managed to reach the cabin, where the 
firearms were kept, and soon succeeded in 
clearing the ship. Four of them, remaining 
unhurt, tried to escape by boat; but when 
they reached the shore all were captured and 
put to death with every refinement of torture. 
The fifth man was badly wounded and preferred 
to remain on board. Next clay the Indians re- 
turned, apparently intending to loot the vessel ; 
but when several hundred had clambered to 
the deck, others still remaining about her in 
canoes, a terrific explosion took place, and the 
ship with all on board leaped into the air, a mass 
of flaming ruin. Perhaps it was the work of 
the man on board, possibly the Indians them- 
selves ignited the powder in the magazine ; at 
all events they had suffered such retribution 
for the cruel massacre of the Tonquins crew as 
the northern tribesmen could not soon forget. 

About the time of the Tonqiniis arrival The over- 
on the Pacific coast another detachment of '^^^^P^'^^y- 

Wilson 

Astor's men was preparing to cross the conti- Price Hunt 
nent by following the trail of Lewis and Clark. 
This company was under the direction of Mr. 
Wilson Price Hunt of New Jersey, an Ameri- 
can partner, to whom Astor had confided the 
chief management of the Pacific department of 
the fur trade. He collected most of his men in 
Canada, at Montreal and Mackinac, carrying 



I06 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

them to St. Louis in the fall of 1810 in boats, 
by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and 
the Mississippi. They spent the winter in a 
camp near the frontier of settlement on the 
Missouri, and in March began the ascent of the 
river.^ At the Aricara villages (near the pres- 
ent northern boundary of South Dakota) they 
learned that the Blackfoot Indians were hostile, 
and therefore decided to leave the river, mak- 
ing their way overland with horses in a south- 
westerly direction, to the Big Horn and Wind 
River mountains. They crossed these ranges 
and entered the Green River valley. Passing 
over the divide to Lewis River, they then de- 
cided to abandon their horses and take to 
canoes. This was an unfortunate error, for the 
stream soon, contrary to appearances, proved 

^ Bradbury, an English naturalist, to whose " Travels in 
America " we Owe the preservation of many of the incidents of 
the trip as far as the Aricara villages, tells us (p. i6) : "On 
leaving Charette, Mr. Hunt pointed out to me an old man stand- 
ing on the bank, who he informed me was Daniel Boone, the 
discoverer of Kentucky. As I had a letter of introduction to him, 
from his nephew. Colonel Grant, I went ashore to speak to him. 
... I remained for some time in conversation with him. He 
informed me that he was eighty-four years of age ; that he had 
spent a considerable portion of his time alone in the backwoods, 
and had lately returned from his spring hunt with nearly sixty 
beaver skins." Irving, after reading this statement of Bradbury, 
suggested that the veteran woodsman probably felt a " throb of 
the old pioneer spirit, impelling him to shoulder his rifle and join 
the adventurous band."' Though he failed to do so in person, 
his children crossed the Rockies, and we meet his honored name 
in both Oregon and California. 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 107 

itself a true mountain torrent, threatening 
destruction to both men and boats. They 
therefore left it (at the Cauldron Linn) and 
set out on foot, after breaking the company 
into smaller parties to make it easier to find 
game. The sufferings of these men, in their 
weary wanderings over the Lewis River desert, 
are more easily imagined than described, al- 
though Mr. L'ving, in his classic history of the 
Astoria enterprise, has succeeded in giving us 
some very vivid pictures. Hunt, with a section 
of the party, reached the Grand Ronde valley 
at the close of the year, and on the 15th of 
February arrived at Astoria. Some had already 
reached the fort ; others straggled in from time 
to time, till nearly all were safe. 

Soon after this overland party reached the ship 
lower Columbia Mr. Astor's ship, the Beaver, ^^"^"^^^ 

'■ arrives 

sent from New York in the fall of 1811, an- May 10, 
chored (May 10, 181 2) in the Columbia River ^^^^ 
with a cargo similar in all respects to that 
carried by the Tonqiiiu the year before. The 
Astorians were greatly rejoiced. At last they 
had abundant supplies, new reenforcements of 
men, and every encouragement to carry the 
trade far up the rivers toward the sources of 
the Columbia. It began to look as if Astor's 
brilliant project might be grandly successful 
after all, despite the calamities which attended 
its beginnings. 



Thompson 



I08 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

The North- In the preceding year, before the fort had 
lose the race, heeii Completed at the mouth of the river, a 
David party of men prepared to ascend tlie Columbia 

for exploration and trade; but just as they 
were setting out (July 15) a canoe floating the 
British flag drew in to the shore at Astoria, 
greatly to the astonishment of the Americans. 
A gentleman stepped ashore, and introduced 
himself as Mr. David Thompson, geographer of 
the Northwest Company. He said that he had 
expected to reach the mouth of the river during 
the preceding fall, and had actually wintered 
west of the Rockies, but that owing to the 
desertion of some of his men it was impossible 
to carry out his plans. The Astorians be- 
lieved it was his intention to plant a fort for his 
company near the spot where their own estab- 
lishment was rising, and in this they were doubt- 
less correct. We now know, from Thompson's 
journal and other sources, that this indomitable 
British "pathfinder" had been on the Pacific 
slope several times prior to 181 1. In the year 
1807 (June 22) he reached a tributary of the 
Columbia by crossing Howse Pass in the 
Rockies, and wrote in his diary, " May God in 
his mercy give me to see where its waters flow 
into the ocean and return in safety."^ In 1809 

^ The late Dr. Elliott Cones made a study of Thompson's 
journals in their manuscript form, and published generous quota- 
tions from them in connection with tiic journals of Alexander 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 109 

he founded a Northwest Company fort at 
Lake Pend d'Oreille, and another in the Flat- 
head country, on Clark's Fork. A still earlier 
establishment was that on the Kootenai, and 
now there was also one on the Spokane River. 
The Americans saw at once that here was a 
formidable rival for the up-river trade; but they 
knew their advantage as the occupants of the 
lower Columbia, and determined if possible 
to drive their Montreal competitors across the 
Rockies. 

The delayed party, under David Stuart, one Fort 
of Astor's partners, now set out up the river, f^^^"i°|^" 
accompanied as far as the Cascades by Thomp- iSu 
son on his return. When Stuart's party reached 
the place where the Columbia and Lewis rivers 
meet they found a pole stuck in the ground, 
and tightly bound around it a sheet of paper 
containing the proclamation : " Know hereby 
that this country is claimed by Great Britain 
as part of its territories, that the N.W. Com- 
pany of Merchants from Canada, finding the 
Factoiy for this people inconvenient for them, 
do hereby intend to erect a factory in this 
place for the convenience of the country 
around. D. Thompson." Notwithstanding 
this announcement, or possibly because of it, 
Stuart passed right on up the north branch 

Henry. This gives us the valuable '' Henry-Thompson Jour- 
nals," 3 vols., New York, 1897. 



of trade in 

l8l2 



no A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

to the Okanogan River, where lie estalDhshed 
the first up-river fort for the Astor Company, 
and carried on a successful winter's trade.' 
Expansion When the Beaver arrived in 1S12, with men 

and suppHes, the Astorians decided on a great 
forward movement to the interior. They pro- 
posed to go into the neighborhood of every 
Northwest post and begin a rival establishment. 
Thus they planned a fort on the Spokane, with 
branch trading houses on the Flathead (Clark's 
Fork) and Kootenai rivers, and another in 
the She Whaps region. A third venture was 
to be made on the Lewis River, while the 
trade at Okanogan was to be continued." The 
Spokane project was in charge of Mr. Clark, 
David Stuart went back to Okanogan, and Mr. 
Donald M'Kenzie was sent up Lewis River. 
Both Clark and Stuart, with their clerks and 
assistants at the branch stations, succeeded 
admirably in the trade of this second winter. 

^ Alexander Ross, one of tlie clerks, who spent most of tlie 
winter alone at Okanogan, wliile Stuart was exploring far to the 
north in the She Whaps country, tells us in his hook, " The Fur 
Hunters of the Far West," that he bought fifteen liundred beaver, 
worth in Canton twenty-five hundred pounds, for goods worth, 
not to exceed, thirt\'-five pounds. This he calls a "specimen of 
our trade among the Indians." 

- At the same time Mr. Rol)ert Stuart was sent east with letters 
for Mr. Astor. His party became bewildered in the upper Lewis 
River country, and were foi"ced to winter on the plains, reaching 
St. Louis April 30, 181 3, after being out nearly a year from 
Astoria. 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE III 

M'Kenzie did nothing on the Lewis, and by 
the middle of January was back dX Astoria, 
with an alarming story which foreshadowed 
coming events. 

While visiting Spokane House about the War news 
close of the year 1812, so M'Kenzie told the "°^^^^the 

J ' Rockies 

people at Astoria, Mr. John George M'Tavish, 
partner of the Northwest Company, had arrived 
fresh from Montreal, with news that war had 




Fort Okanogan. 



broken out between the United States and 
Great Britain, and that the company was ex- 
pecting an English warship to enter the Pacific 
and capture Astoria. At this time the fort was 
in charge of Donald M'Dougal, a Canadian like 
M'Kenzie, Hunt having sailed away the pre- 
ceding summer in the Beaver, and being still 



112 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

absent. These two men weakly determined to 
abandon the Columbia the following summer 
and cross the mountains; but the other part- 
ners when they came down with their furs in 
June (1S13) vetoed this plan, insisting on re- 
maining another winter if possible. M'Tavish 
descended the river with his men, spent much 
time about Astoria, and received needed sup- 
plies from the Americans, while he waited for 
the ship, which, as he declared, was daily 
expected. 
Movements Mr. Huut Sailed away in the Beaver on the 
of Mr. Hunt ^^|^ q£ y^yg^jst, i8i2. He ran to Sitka, made 
a successful trade with the Russians, and then 
proceeded to the islands of St. Peter and St. 
Paul, where he received eighty thousand seal- 
skins. By this time it was winter; the vessel 
was much damaged, and all haste had to be 
made to get the valuable cargo to Canton. 
The Beaver, therefore, did not stop at the Co- 
lumbia, but carried Hunt to Hawaii and con- 
tinued on to China. Here the captain (Sowles) 
obtained news of the war, which sent him into 
hiding with his vessel till it was over. Hunt 
finally learned of the war in Hawaii and came 
to the Columbia in an American ship, the 
Albatross, reaching Astoria August 4, 18 13, 
after an absence of exactly one year. He 
learned that the partners were resolved to 
abandon the river, and while he opposed, he 



RACE FOR COLUMBIA RIVER FUR TRADE 113 

could not change the resolution. Still, hoping 
to save something, he sailed again in the Alba- 
tross to seek a vessel which might be available 
for the purpose of carrying away the goods and 
furs. 

At last, on the i6th of October, influenced Astoria sold, 
by their fears if not by selfish motives, the part- ^si'^^^Jaktn 
ners sold Astoria and its belongings, with all ijy the 
furs, supplies, and other property at the interior December 12 
stations as well, to the Northwest Company. ('^'ri3)>i8i3 
One incident remains, and the story of Astoria 
is finished. " On the morning of the 30th " 
[November], says Franchere, "we saw a large 
vessel standing in under Cape Disappointment; 
. . . she w^as the British sloop-of-war. Raccoon, 
of twenty-six guns, commanded by Captain 
Black," . . . The long-looked-for British ship 
had come, and on the 12th of December (Henry 
says the 13th) the American flag was hauled 
down at Astoria to make place for the Union 
Jack. The station itself was rechristened Fort 
George. More than two months later (February 
28, 1 8 14) Mr. Hunt appeared once more, in the 
brig Pedlar, purchased by him for the purpose of 
carrying away Astor's property. He was too late, 
and sailed away again, first to the north, then 
down the coast to California and Mexico.^ 

^ Most of the Canadian partners of Mr. Astor accepted posi- 
tions with the Northwest Company, as did also many of the clerks 
and laborers. A few, including Mr. Gabriel Franchere, went back 
1 



114 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

to Canada overland in the spring of 1814, with the Northwest 
Company's express. Franchere's " Narrative," and two similar 
books, also by clerks of the Astor Company, A. Ross's *'Fur 
Hunters of the Far West " and Ross Cox's " Adventures on the 
Columbia," are the principal sources for the history of the Astor 
enterprise. All of these have long been out of print. The 
"Henry-Thompson Journals," recently published, throw addi- 
tional light on some phases of the history, and Irving's " Astoria " 
contains some matter taken from manuscript sources not now 
accessible. 



"^ 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE Hudson's bay company 

When Mr. Hunt bade farewell to the Colum- changes on 
bia (April 2, 1S14), he left the British rivals in [Jj^^Coium- 
full control not only of the fort at the mouth of 
the river, but of all the avenues of trade be- 
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, 
from California to Alaska. A few days later 
their first supply ship, the Isaac Todd, entered 
the river with a cargo containing everything 
necessary for the trade of the entire depart- 
ment. She also brought additional men, and 
these added to the list of Astorians already 
engaged, gave the Northwest Company a force 
sufficient to occupy the country at least as fully 
as Astor had done. They, however, made no 
important change in the trade for several years, 
till Donald M'Kenzie established the Walla 
Walla Fort (18 18), and began to send trapping 
parties along Lewis River. This greatly ex- 
tended the area covered, and increased the 
profits in a marked degree. 

In 182 1 a noteworthy change occurred in the Union of 
fur trade of the British dominions. The Hud- 'l^^^^!^ 
son's Bay and Northwest companies, whose panics, 1821 

"5 



Il6 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

agents had long been destroying each other in 
their bitter contest for the possession of the 
northern forests, were now united under the 
name of the Hudson's Bay Company/ The 
dream of Alexander Mackenzie had been real- 
ized. From Montreal to Fort George, from St. 
James, near the head of Fraser River, to the 
Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay, the wilderness 




Fort Wali.a Wai.la. 



traffic was at last organized under a single 
management, and carried on absolutely without 
competition except where the British came in 
contact with Americans or Russians. York 
Factory on Hudson Bay was the eastern em- 
porium, and the residence of the company's 

^ In 1816 actual war broke out in the Red River valley, where 
Lord Selkirk had established a colony for the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, across the patli of the Northwesters. The union was brought 
about by the interference of government ofiScials. 



THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 11/ 

governor, Sir George Simpson. Fort George, 
at the mouth of the Columbia, was to be the 
western emporium. 

In 1824 Dr. John McLoughHn arrived on Dr. 
the Columbia to take charore of the western f^'^LoughUn 

c" builds rort 

department. One of his first steps was to Vancouver, 
abandon Fort George and to establish new ^ ^'^'^ ^^ 
headquarters at Point 
Vancouver.^ H e re 
was an ideal location 
for a trading center. 
The Willamette, en- 
tering the Columbia 
a short distance be- 
low, had its sources 
nearly two hundred 
miles to the south ; 
the Cowlitz opened 
an avenue for trade 
toward Puget Sound ; 

, ., ^ , ^ , Dr. John McLoughlin, 1824. 

while tor the Colum- 
bia itself, breaking through the Cascades a 
few miles above Vancouver, the site was the 
best that could be found. On a fine prairie 
about three quarters of a mile from the river, 
McLoughlin built the first Fort Vancouver, 
and occupied it in 1825. Four years later 
another establishment was built on the low 

^ The point reached and so named by Broughton in October, 
1792. 




Il8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

ground near the river bank. It was simply 
a stockade made of posts about twenty feet 
in length, inclosing a rectangular space thirty- 
seven rods long by eighteen rods in width, 
which contained all the principal buildings, in- 
cluding Dr. McLoughlin's residence. The ser- 
vants of the company, with their Indian families 




MAP OF cIPerpeti;. 

THE COLUMBIA 

to illURtrate 
ROSS S ADVENTURES 



uJ J, 



and friends, lived just outside, where in course 
of time a considerable village grew up. Such 
was the famous Fort Vancouver, round which 
clusters so much of the romance, as well as 
the more sober history, of early Oregon.^ Dr. 

' A fascinating picture of life at this western emporium of the 
fur trade is given by Mrs. Eva Emery Dye in her " McLoughlin 
and Old Oregon." 



THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 119 

McLoughlin remained in charge of the estab- 
Hshment for twenty-two years, managing the 
company's business with rare success ; and by 
his firm control over the Indians of the entire 
Oregon country, his kindness and hospitahty 
to American traders, missionaries, adventurers 
and colonists, richly deserving the title, " Father 
of Oregon," bestowed upon him by the pioneers. 

Vancouver was the clearing house for all the The fur 
business west of the Rocky Mountains. Here !7''^ ^* 

-' Vancouver 

the annual ships from London landed supplies 
and merchandise, which were placed in ware- 
houses to await the departure of the boat bri- 
gades for the interior; here was the great fur 
house, where the peltries were brought together 
from scores of smaller forts and trading camps, 
scattered through a wilderness empire of half 
a million square miles. They came from St. 
James, Langley, and Kamloops in the far north- 
west; from Umpqua in the south; from Walla 
Walla, Colville, Spokane, Okanogan, and many 
other places in the upper portions of the great 
valley. Hundreds of trappers followed the 
water courses through the gloomy forests and 
into the most dangerous fastnesses of the 
mountains, in order to glean the annual beaver 
crop for delivery to these substations. We do 
not know precisely what the total business 
amounted to; but in 1828 a visitor to Vancou- 
ver (Jedediah Smith) learned that McLoughlin 



I20 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

had received during the year thirty thousand 
beaver skins, worth two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars, besides a large quantity of other 
furs. 

Aside from the fur trade, which was the 
principal business, Vancouver was also the cen- 
ter of other activities. By 1828 a fine farm had 
















Fort Vancouver. 



been opened on the prairie about the fort, and 
fields of wheat, oats, corn, peas, and barley 
flourished in the rich soil of this favored local- 
ity. As the years passed, more and more land 
w^as brought under cultivation, until the farm 
aggregated several thousand acres, " fenced into 
beautiful corn fields, vegetable fields, orchards, 
gardens, and pasture fields, . . . interspersed 
with dairy houses, shepherds' and herdsmen's 



THE HUDSON^S BAY COMPANY I2I 

cottages." ^ In 1 8 14 the Isaac Todd brought to 
the Columbia from California four head of 
Spanish cattle ; the Astor people already had 
a few hogs, obtained from the Hawaiian Is- 
lands, and also several goats. These were the 
beginnings of the live stock interest of the 
Northwest. In 1828 the Vancouver pastures 
fed about two hundred cattle, fourteen goats, 
and fifty horses ; while ranging the surround- 
ing woodlands were about three hundred swine. 
The numbers of all kinds of animals increased 
with surprising rapidity. At first it had been 
the intention merely to raise grain and vege- 
tables for the use of the establishment itself; 
but in course of time a large amount of wheat 
was sold to the Russians, and to American 
whalers in need of supplies. There was a flour 
mill at the fort, and on a nei2;hborino[ stream 
a large sawmill, which not only produced lum- 
ber for home use, but also an occasional cargo 
for shipment to the Hawaiian Islands. The 
fort had its mechanics, representing all the 
ordinary trades, — smiths, carpenters, tinners, 
coopers, and even a baker. Several coasting 
vessels had been built by the carpenters prior 
to 1828. 

Although business was the first consideration 
at Vancouver, and Dr. McLoughlin tolerated 

^ Quoted from Dunn, '■'• The Oregon Territory and the British 
North American Fur Trade," Philadelphia, 1845, p. 107. 



122 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Social 
life at 
Vancouver 



no idlers, yet, on the whole, life was pleasant 
there. The officers were nearly all well-edu- 
cated gentlemen, who enjoyed good living, 
books, and agreeable company. Their dining 
hall at Vancouver was not merely a place where 
the tables were supplied with good food, but 
the scene of bright, intelligent conversation, 
conducted with perfect propriety, and pleasing 
to the most refined guests. The wives of the 
officers were usually half-caste women, yet in 
many cases they are said to have been excellent 
housekeepers and good mothers. They and 
their children did not eat with the men, but 
had tables in a separate hall. In other respects 
home life was much as it is in ordinary com- 
munities. The children spent most of the 
summer season out of doors, engaging in all 
manner of sports, and gaining special skill in 
horsemanship. In the winter a school was often 
maintained at the fort.' Religious services were 
conducted on the Sabbath, either by McLough- 
lin himself or by some visiting missionary or 
priest. The village had its balls, regattas, and 
other amusements, rendering it a place of much 
gayety, especially about June, when the brigades 
of boats arrived with the up-river traders, and 



1 Jolin Ball, a New England man who came with Wyeth in 

1832, taught the first school at Vancouver in the winter of 1832- 

1833. He raised a crop of wheat in the Willamette valley in the 
summer of 1833. 



THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 123 

their crews of jovial, picturesque French voya- 
ge urs. 

Fort Vancouver dominated the fur trade of The mo- 
Oregon almost as completely as if the country JJ^^JjJj^^g of 
had actually been the private property of the the Hud- 
Hudson's Bay Company. When American company 
traders began to enter the Columbia valley, 
they soon found themselves at the mercy of 
this great monopoly which controlled the 
Indian tribes, possessed unlimited capital, and 
could afford to raise the price of beaver skins 
to ten times their ordinary value in order to 
drive out a competitor. While McLoughlin 
treated all strangers well and even generously 
at Fort Vancouver, he permitted no interfer- 
ence with the trade, which his strong position 
in the country enabled him to control. We 
must now inquire by what right these British 
subjects had come into possession of the Pacific 
Northwest, and how their presence affected the 
rights and interests already secured in this 
country by the people of the United States. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE OREGON QUESTION 

How the The war that ruined Aster's trading project 

Oregon ^^g closed bv the treaty of Ghent in Decem- 

question -^ -^ 

arose, 1817 bcr, 1814. The govemments of Great Britain 
and the United States agreed that " All terri- 
tory, places, and possessions whatsoever, taken 
by either party from the other during the war, . . . 
[should] be restored without delay. . . ." Mr. 
Astor seems to have thought that since his fort 
on the Columbia had been taken possession of 
by a British warship, the Northwest Company 
ought now to give it up, together with the sur- 
rounding country. He was not yet prepared 
to abandon an enterprise which had so deeply 
excited his interest, and he urged the United 
States government to secure the restoration of 
Astoria. In July, i8i 5, six months after the close 
of the war, the American Secretary of State 
gave notice to the British government that 
the ^rrtumbia would be reoccupied under the 
treaty; and two years later (September, 181 7) 
our government ordered Captain Biddle (ship 
Ontario) to go to Astoria and " assert the claim 
of the United States to the [Oregon] country in 

124 



THE OREGON QUESTION 125 

a friendly and peaceable manner, . . ." When 
the British minister at Washington, Mr. Bagot, 
learned of this last act, he entered a protest, 
declaring that Astoria was not one of the 
"places and possessions" referred to in the 
treaty, since the fort had been purchased by 
British subjects before the Raccoon entered 
the river. Nor was the Columbia valley " ter- 
ritory . . . taken . . . during the war," but 
a region " early taken possession of in his 
Majesty's name, and . . . considered as forming 
part of his Majesty's dominions." ^ Here was 
a sharp conflict of claims between the United 
States and Great Britain, which required twenty- 
nine years to settle, and is known in history as 
the Oregon question. 

The first point to be agreed upon was as to Formal 
which nation had the right to occupy the coun- ^f^^^r^^"" 
try at the time, setting aside the greater ques- country, 
tion of the final right of ownership. Here, ^^^^ ^^ ' 
certainly, the Americans had the advantage ; 
for although Broughton may have taken formal 
possession in October, 1792, nothing had been 
done by the British government or people 
between that date and the year 181 1 to make 
good their claim to the lower Columbia. On 
the other hand, the American trader, Gray, had 

^ It was claimed that Lieutenant Broughton took formal pos- 
session of the Columbia country when he entered the river in 
October, 1792. 



126 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

shown Broughton the way into the river; Lewis 
and Clark had explored from its fountains to 
the sea ; and Astor had taken and held posses- 
sion till the events of the war forced him to 
retire. Whatever rights Great Britain may 
have gained as a result of explorations north 
of the Columbia, the planting of forts on tribu- 
taries of this river, or the mapping of the coast 
north and south of the estuary, the plain fact 
remained that Americans had been in posses- 
sion of the territory at the mouth of the river 
when the war came, and therefore they ought 
to be in possession after its close. The British 
government admitted the force of these argu- 
ments, and on the 6th of October, 1818, their 
agents at Fort George allowed Mr. J. B. 
Prevost to run up the American fiag.^ This 
was the formal restoration of the territory to 
the United States, and meant that Americans 
were now at liberty to occupy it if they chose 
to do so. 
First treaty Two wecks later, Octobcr 20, 1 8 18, dip- 
of joint lomatic representatives of the two countries 

occupation, i 

October 20, 

1818 

^ Prevost had been appointed joint commissioner with Biddle, 

and sailed with him on the Ontario to Valparaiso. Thence 
Biddle proceeded to the Columbia and took formal possession of 
the country, Aug. 9, 1818, though no British officer there had in- 
structions to hand over the fort. Meantime, however, Prevost 
learned that such instructions had been issued, and, being invited 
by a British naval officer to accompany him northward, he sailed 
to the Columbia and received possession. 



THE OREGON QUESTION 127 

concluded a treaty in which the Oregon ques- 
tion was mentioned. At that time there was 
no dividing Hne between the territories of 
Great Britain and the United States west of 
the Lake of the Woods, and it was agreed to 
take the 49th parallel as the boundary from 
this point to the crest of the Rocky Mountains. 
The British diplomats wished to establish a 
boundary west of the Rockies as well, where- 
upon the Americans offered to extend the line 
of 49° to the Pacific Ocean. This the other 
party declined, thinking that it would not give 
Great Britain all the territory she could reason- 
ably claim, and indicating that they thought the 
Columbia River should form the dividing line 
from the point where the 49th parallel crossed its 
easternmost branch to the sea. The American 
government was not willing at this time to 
press its claim, and so we accepted a provision 
for the "joint occupation" of the Oregon coun- 
try for a term of ten years. This meant simply 
that Englishmen and Americans had an equal 
right to trade and settle in every part of the 
country; but that neither the one nor the other 
could have absolute control over any part of 
it till the question of ownership should be de- 
termined. The treaty also guarded the rights 
of other nations.^ It is well to remember that 

^At this time neither Spain nor Russia had formally given 
up their claims to territory in the Oregon country. In 1819, 



interest m 
the Oregon 



128 A HISTORY OF THE PACHIC NORTHWEST 

in this first diplomatic discussion over Oregon, 
the United States was willing to accept the 49th 
parallel as a boundary, while Great Britain would 
probably have been satisfied with the Columbia. 
if On many accounts it seems very unfortunate 

that the question could not have been settled 
country. in iSi8 by dividing the country on the 49th 

Brvant and n i i rj_ 1 

Keiiev parallel as was done arter so much wa-an- 

gling twenty-eight years later. Possibly a little 
greater determination on the part of our gov- 
ernment might have brought this about, and 
saved us the long quarrel with Great Britain. 
But the fact is that very few people were 
then giving the slightest thought to the far- 
off region beyond the Rockies. Bryant wrote 
of it in 1S17 as, — 

" The continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound 
Save his own dashings." ^ 

however, when Florida was purchased by the United States, 
Spain yielded to our government all her rights north of the 42d 
parallel of latitude, so that whatever rights she may once have 
had in the Oregon country henceforth belonged to the United 
States. Five years later an agreement was made between the 
United States and Russia by which the two nations established 
the line of 54° 40' as a boundary for trading purposes. Thus the 
question of the ownership of the Oregon country was left to be 
worked out between the people of the United States and the 
government of Great Britain. 

1 Because of the popularity of the poem " Thanatopsis," in 
which the lines appeared, the name ''Oregon" was brought promi- 
nently Ijefore the country. Bryant obtained the word from 
Carver's Travels. 



THE OREGON QUESTION I29 

Only one person seems to have been fully 
alive to the fact that we had rights there which 
ought to be carefully looked after. This was 
an eccentric Boston schoolmaster named Hall 
J. Kelley, who began now to agitate the Oregon 
question. 

It may be that some of Kelley's pamphlets or John Floyd 
letters reached men connected with the United the'orea*o^n 
States government. At all events, on the 20th question in 
of December, 1S20, a young Virginian by the December 
name of John Floyd brought the question for- 20, 1820 
ward for the first time in the Congress of the 
United States. He wished "to inquire into 
^he situation of the settlements on the Pacific 
Ocean, and the expediency of occupying the 
Columbia River." In January, 182 1, he made 
a report on the subject of our rights west of 
the Rockies, and a little later presented a bill 
for planting a fort at the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia, and for granting lands to settlers. 

It was many months before Floyd was able The first 
to ffet a hearino^; but in 1S22 he brousrht in •^.'^"sres- 

0^0' o sional de- 

another bill which aroused much interest in bate on 
Congress and drew the attention of the country p-^Q^^j'" ' 
to the Oregon question. In the debate which speech 
occurred Floyd took the leading part. Pie was 
one of those men who have the power of look- 
ing beyond the present, and seeing in imagi- 
nation the changes likely to occur in future 
years. Though he lived in Virginia, Floyd 



130 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

knew what was going on beyond the moun- 
tains, and was thrilled by the spectacle of 
America's wonderful growth, which he believed 
to be due largely to her free system of govern- 
ment. In the space of forty-three years, he 
said, Virginia's population had spread westward 
more than a thousand miles. He evidently 
believed it would not be long before Americans 
would reach the Rockies, and stand ready to 
descend into the Oregon country. This was a 
new thought, just beginning to take hold of 
the American people, and as yet quite startling 
to most men who, in spite of what had already 
been done, found it difficult to conceive of the 
American population actually expanding till it 
should reach the Pacific. But he only hinted 
at these things, knowing very well that most 
members of Congress would regard predictions 
of this kind as the merest folly. Floyd's main 
argument had to do with the importance of the 
Columbia River to American commerce. Our 
people ought to have the benefit of the fur 
trade now going to British subjects ; many 
whalers from New England annually visited 
the Oregon coast and needed some safe port in 
which to refit and take supplies ; the trade with 
China would be greatly advanced by maintain- 
ing a colony on the Pacific. He tried to show 
that the Missouri and Columbia together would 
form a good highway for commerce across the 



remarkable 
predictions 



THE OREGON QUESTION I3I 

continent, and that the entire distance between 
St. Louis and Astoria could be traversed with 
steamboat and wagon in the space of forty-four 
days. 

Other speakers also urged the commercial Mr. Baiiies's 
importance of a fort at the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia. Mr. Bailies of Massachusetts declared 
that in all probability there would one day be 
a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans, which would be an added reason for 
maintaining a colony on the Pacific. Most 
persons feared that Americans going to this 
distant land would separate from us and set up 
a government for themselves ; but Mr. Bailies 
pointed out that such a canal would bind them 
closely to us. Yet, if they should form an 
independent American state on the Pacific, 
even this would be better than to have that 
region pass into the hands of foreigners, or be 
left a savage wilderness. " I would delight," 
said the speaker, " to know that in this desolate 
spot, where the prowling cannibal now lurks 
in the forest, hung round with human bones 
and with human scalps, the temples of justice 
and the temples of God were reared, and man 
made sensible of the beneficent intentions of 
his creator." The country, he said, had made 
marvelous progress within the memories of 
living men, and with the fervor of an ancient 
prophet he continued : " Some now within 



132 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

these walls may, before they die, witness scenes 
more wonderful than these ; and in after times 
may cherish delightful recollections of this day, 
when America, almost shrinking from the 
' shadows of coming events,' first placed her 
feet upon untrodden ground, scarcely daring to 
anticipate the greatness which awaited her." 
The practi- To show liow the hard-hcadcd, practical men 
cai man's comprisins^ the maioritv in Cono-ress treated 

view of the i o J J o^ 

Oregon such idcalists as Floyd and Bailies, we have 
question ^^^|^ ^^ ium to thc oppositiou speech of Mr. 
Tracy of New York. He declared that there 
was no real demand for a fort and colony on 
the Columbia. No one had shown that it 
would benefit commerce. It was visionary to 
expect an overland commercial connection with 
the Pacific Ocean. Military posts ought not 
to be used to draw population far away into 
the wilderness, but merely to protect the fron- 
tier. Mr. Tracy had received accurate infor- 
mation about the territory along the Columbia, 
from men who had visited that region, and was 
sure that its agricultural possibilities had been 
greatly overestimated. As a final argument, 
he declared that the people on the Pacific and 
those on the Atlantic could never live under 
the same government. " Nature," said Mr. 
Tracy, " has fixed limits for our nation ; she 
has kindly interposed as our western barrier 
mountains almost inaccessible, whose base 



THE OREGON QUESTION 1 33 

she has skirted with irreclaimable deserts of 
sand." ^ 

On the 23d of January, 1823, after a long and Defeat of 
vigorous debate, Floyd's bill came to a vote in ^M'^i^bii 
the House of Representatives and was defeated, 
one hundred to sixty-one. The time had not 
yet come for an American colony on the Pa- 
cific, because the government was unwilling to 
plant such a settlement, and the people were 
not yet thinking of Oregon as a "pioneer's land 
of promise." Only a few men, and those of 
the rarer sort, looked forward to the occupation 
of the Columbia region as a step toward the 
establishment of a greater America, wdth a 
frontao^e on the Pacific Ocean similar to that 
which we then had upon the Atlantic."^ 

We must now turn from Congress, where Diplomatic 

Oi 'ii 1 1 , 1 negotiations 

regon bills were brought up nearly every ses- overOre<^on 

1S24-1827 

^ From the time of Long's exploring expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains (1819), the western portion of the Great Plains was 
called the " Great American Desert." 

2 Strangely enough none of the speakers in the House seemed 
to suspect that we might not have a right, under the trea4:y of 
joint occupation, to plant a military colony at the mouth of the 
Columbia, or that Great Britain had an actual claim to the coun- 
try which was protected by that treaty. 

Only one man appeared to understand the situation clearly, 
Senator Benton of Missouri. He believed that if the British re- 
mained in sole possession of Oregon till 1828, the year that the 
treaty of joint occupation was to expire, they would remain for a 
still longer period ; and in a speech in the Senate he favored an 
American colony on the Columbia as a means of maintaining our 
rights in the country. 



134 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

sion till the end of 1827, but always In vain, to 
see what was being done for Oregon elsewhere. 
The discussion of 182 2- 182 3 had brought the 
matter home to the people and the govern- 
ment in such a way that statesmen began to 
see the importance of settling the question. 
An attempt was made in the year 1824, but it 
failed. Great Britain claimed a right for her 
people to trade and make settlements in any 
part of the Oregon country, admitting that our 
citizens had the same, but no greater right. 
Our government, through Secretary of State, J. 
Q. Adams, claimed that we had a clear title to 
territory on the Pacific as high up as 5 1 °, but we 
were willing once more, as in 1818, to take the 
49th parallel. This first negotiation was con- 
ducted by Mr. Richard Rush. Two years 
later the orovernment sent over its most accom- 
plished diplomat, Albert Gallatin. John Quincy 
Adams was at that time President of the United 
States, and Henry Clay Secretary of State. It 
was these three men who, under Gallatin's skill- 
ful leadership, had secured the favorable treaty 
of peace with Great Britain in 18 14. Now 
they were all working together once more, 
though in a different way, trying to obtain 
treaties which should settle several important 
commercial questions, as well as the Oregon 
boundary. Gallatin spent more than a year in 
London, had many long discussions with the 



THE OREGON QUESTION 1 35 

British diplomats, and secured four separate 
treaties, one of which, agreed upon August 
6th, 1827, referred to the Oregon question 
but did not settle it. 

Gallatin, like Rush, offered to extend the Gallatin's 
49th parallel to the Pacific as the boundary, i^gp^obaWe 
but Great Britain insisted on her right to cause 
the territory west and north of the Columbia, 
and no compromise could be reached. Her 
representatives entered upon long arguments to 
show that their government had rights below 
the 49th parallel. They denied that Gray's 
discovery of the river, or even Lewis and 
Clark's exploration, gave Americans an ex- 
clusive right to the Columbia valley; and 
they properly laid great stress upon the explo- 
rations which British navigators like Cook and 
Vancouver had made along the coast north of 
the river. But while these arguments had a 
measure of justice in them, there is reason to 
believe that Great Britain was simply deter- 
mined upon delay in settling the question. 
Her subjects had expended large sums of 
money to develop the trade of that country ; 
they were in control, gathering their annual 
cargoes of furs, and the government was natu- 
rally anxious to protect their interests. Our 
people had created no property rights in Ore- 
gon since Astor's time; very few had ever set 
foot west of the Rockies, and it would probably 



136 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

be many years before they would be prepared to 
settle in the country. Meantime the British 
fur traders might as well continue to profit from 
their advantages. But once let Americans 
rather than Englishmen come into practical 
control of the Columbia valley, and the British 
government would soon be ready to settle the 
question. Gallatin knew this, and so did Presi- 
dent Adams. They were therefore the less 
unwilling to accept a simple renewal of " joint 
occupation " for an indefinite time. America 
must wait for the full establishment of her 
rights in Oregon upon the movements of the 
American pioneers. 



CHAPTER X 

PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 

We have seen that In iSoo the region west of The west 
the Alleghanies had a population of about three ""''""^ '^^° 
hundred and twenty-five thousand. Twenty 
years later, when Mr. Floyd and a few others 
began to dream about expansion to the Pacific, 
the West already contained more than two 
million people, nearly one tenth of whom (two 
hundred thousand) were living beyond the 
Mississippi. The country had entered upon a 
period of marvelous growth. Many thousands 
of emigrants were crossing the mountains each 
year, forests were leveled as if by a sort of 
magic, and a single season often saw great 
stretches of wild prairie transformed into fields 
of wheat and corn. In such pioneer states as 
Indiana and Illinois the wild game was rapidly 
disappearing from the river valleys as new 
settlers entered to make clearings and build 
homes. Many of the rude hamlets of twenty 
years before had given place to progressive and 
wealthy towns, thriving upon the business of 
the growing communities about them. Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and St. Louis 

?37 



138 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

had already become places of note, and con- 
trolled the commerce of the West much as 
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore 
dominated the eastern section of the United 
States. The western rivers were alive with 
noisy little steamboats, one of which had re- 
cently ascended the Missouri to the mouth of 
Platte River.^ Roads were being opened every- 
where, and the Erie Canal was under construc- 
tion from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 
The frontier of settlement was in the western 
part of Missouri, whence a trail had already 
been opened to Santa Fe, while others led far 
into the great plains toward the west and 
northwest. 
The Ameri- Bcyond the frontiers the trapper hunted 
^^".^""^r.u the beaver streams, and the trader carried his 

trade of the ' 

farwest2 tempting wares to the Indian villages, much as 
they had done twenty, fifty, or a hundred years 
before. Yet in some respects great changes 
had occurred in the western fur trade. From 
the time of Lewis and Clark's return and the 
opening of the Missouri River country, Ameri- 
can traders had shown a strong disposition to 

^ The IVesfern Engineer, employed as part of Long's, exploring 
equipment in 18 19. 

'^ Under the above title Captain H. M. Chittenden has recently 
given us a remarkably complete, accurate, and interesting history 
of the fur trade throughout the great region west of the Missis- 
sippi. His book, which cost years of patient research, was pub- 
lished in 1902 (3 vols.), 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 1 39 

organize for the better regulation of the busi- 
ness. The Missouri Fur Company, founded 
in 1808 for the purpose of controlHng the trade 
of the Missouri River, was the pioneer of such 
associations in the United States, and it soon 
made St. Louis a great fur-trading center/ But, 
while remarkably successful elsewhere, this 
company did not succeed after all in gaining 
commercial possession of the upper Missouri, 
because of the hostile Blackfeet. In 1822 a 
new company was organized at St. Louis by 
General William H. Ashley, whose plan in the 
beginning was to establish trading posts at 
favorable points on the upper Missouri, like 
the mouth of the Yellowstone, and keep agents 
in the country. The Blackfeet, however, could 
not be pacified, and this method had to be 
given up. Ashley then adopted the policy of 
sending bands of trappers to form camps in 
the best beaver districts, and trap out the 
streams one after another. 

Under leaders like David Jackson and Wil- American 
Ham L. Sublette, these parties not only gath- crSHhe 
ered the fur harvest of some of the Missouri Rockies 
fields, but traversed the country for great dis- 
tances to the southwest, far into the Rocky 
Mountains. Finally they entered the region 
tributary to the Columbia, and came into com- 

^ Astor tried to combine with this company, but was unable to 
do so. 



I40 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

petition with the traders and trappers of the 
Hudson's Bay Company.' It was the clashing 
of skirmishers. Behind the one party was a 
powerful commercial organization, and a proud 
but distant government jealous of their legal 
rights ; behind the other was a rapidly expand- 
ing nation, whose people would one day be pre- 
pared to follow the traders across the Rockies, 
and plant American colonies on the coasts of 
the South Sea. 
Wanderings In 1 826 General Ashley turned over his 
ts^^t^ business to Jedediah S. Smith, David Jackson, 
and William L. Sublette. The first of these 
(Smith) immediately set out from their Rocky 
Mountain camp and with a few men crossed 
the desert and mountains to California, arriving 
at San Diego in October, 1826. He remained 
in the country during the winter, and the fol- 
lowing: summer returned to Salt Lake. In 
spite of severe sufferings on his first trip. Smith 
went back to California the same season, losing 
most of his men at the hands of the Mojave 
Indians. In California he got together a new 

1 Several instances are recorded of American trapping com- 
panies getting the advantage of British parties in some way and 
securing their furs. In 1825 General Ashley got possession, for a 
trifling sum, of about seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of Hud- 
son's Bay furs. We do not know exactly how these peculiar feats 
of wilderness commerce were performed, though it is pretty cer- 
tain that the free use of whisky upon opposition trappers was one 
of the means employed. 



PIONEERS OP^ THE PIONEERS 141 

party, and in 1828 crossed the mountains north- 
ward to Oregon. On the Umpqua River his 
company was attacked by the Indians and all ex- 
cept the leader and three others killed. Smith 
also lost his entire catch of furs, his horses, and 
other property, so that when he arrived at Fort 
Vancouver (August, 1828) he was in desperate 
straits. Dr. McLoughlin received him kindly, 
supplied all his needs, and even sent men to 
the Umpqua to recover the furs stolen by the 
savages. Nearly all were secured, and these 
McLoughlin purchased at the market price, 
giving the American trader a draft on London 
for the sum of twenty thousand dollars. From 
Vancouver Smith went up the Columbia to 
Clark's Fork, and then to the rendezvous of 
his company in the Rocky Mountains, hav- 
ing gained the distinction of making the first 
overland trip from the United States into Cali- 
fornia, and also the first from California to 
Oregon. 
"7^ The next spring (1830) Smith, Jackson, and Wagons 
Sublette took the first loaded wagons into the p"','^""^^ 
Rocky Mountains to the head of Wind River, Captain 
having driven from the Missouri along the °""^^' ^ 
line of the Platte and the Sweetwater. The 
partners reported that they could easily have 
crossed the mountains by way of South Pass. 
The discovery of this natural highway, so 
important in the history of the entire Pacific 



142 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

coast, must be credited to Ashley's trappers, 
some of whom first made use of it in 1823. 
Three years later a mounted cannon was taken 
to Salt Lake by this route, and four years 
after that loaded wagons crossed over for the 
first time to the west iiowing waters. These 
vehicles belonged to the train of Captain 
Bonneville, a Frenchman in the United States 
army, who turned fur trader in 1832, hoping to 
gain a fortune like General Ashley. The 
story of his romantic marches and long de- 
tours through the great western wilderness 
has been charmingly told by Irving in his " Ad- 
ventures of Captain Bonneville." In the space 
of about three years he traversed a large por- 
tion of the Lewis River valley, and went down 
the Columbia as far as Fort Walla Walla.^ 
But the gallant captain was no match for the 
shrewd American traders, or for the well-organ- 
ized British company controlling the Columbia 
River region, and therefore his venture turned 
out a complete failure. 
Wyeth's In the same year that Bonneville set out for 

trading ^|^g Wcst an entcmrisine Bostonian, Captain 

scheme; ^ j. o i 

the first trip Nathaniel J. Wyeth, also entered the Oregon 

to Oregon ^ouutry for the purpose of trade. Wyeth had 

long been familiar with the writings of Hall 

J. Kelley concerning Oregon, and in the sum- 

^ A few of his men, under Joseph Walker, went to Cahfornia in 
1833-1834. Some of them remained there as settlers. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 143 

mer of 1831 he arranged a plan to send a ship 
around Cape Horn while he, with a party of 
landsmen, was to proceed across the country 
hoping to meet the vessel near the mouth of 
the Columbia. A company of Boston mer- 
chants furnished the vessel, which sailed in the 
fall of 1 83 1. Wyeth gathered a small party of 
men, formed a sort of " Wild West " camp on 
an island in Boston Harbor, greatly to the 
astonishment of most people, and in spring 
was ready to begin the overland march. 
Knowing that the trip would have to be made 
partly by land and partly by water, the ingen- 
ious Yankee invented a machine which could 
be used either as a wagon bed or a boat. This 
the Latin scholars at Harvard Colleo^e named 
the " Nat Wyethium." He found it less useful 
than at first supposed and left it at St. Louis. 
At that place Wyeth and his men joined a 
party of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company 
under William L. Sublette, with whom they 
made the trip to the Rocky Mountains by 
means of a pack train. Here some of the men 
turned back discouraged, so that the last por- 
tion of the trip was made with only eleven 
men. This little party reached Vancouver, 
October 24, 1832. The ship had not arrived, 
and they soon learned that she had been 
wrecked at the Society Islands. Wyeth there- 
fore returned to Boston in 1S33, leaving a few 



144 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

of his men, who became the first agricuUural 
settlers of Oregon. The business part of the 
enterprise had failed completely. 
Wyeth'ssec- But Wycth was plucky, and had great faith 
tion^^^^*^ '' ^" ^^^^ prospects for a profitable commercial 
enterprise in the Oregon country. The salmon 
fishery of the Columbia was a possible source 
of great wealth, and he proposed to couple fur 
tradinor with it. He therefore induced the 

O 

Boston partners to supply another ship, the 
May Dacre, which was sent down the coast in 
the fall of 1833. Wyeth himself made the trip 
overland once more in the summer of 1834. 
This time he took a number of wagons from 
St, Louis, with goods which had been or- 
dered by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. 
When the company refused to receive them, 
Wyeth selected a place near the junction of the 
Lew'is and Portneuf rivers, where he built Fort 
Hall and began trading with the Indians on 
his own account by means of an agent left 
there. He then passed on down the river, 
reaching Vancouver in September, Once more 
the energetic captain was disappointed, for the 
May Dacre, which had been expected to reach 
the Columbia early in the summer, during the 
salmon fishing season, came in tardily the day 
after the land party arrived. Nothing could 
then be done about fishing, so Wyeth sent her 
to the Hawaiian Islands with a cargo of timber. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 145 

while he spent the winter in trapping beaver 
on the streams south of the Cohniibia, princi- 
pally the Des Chutes. By the middle of Feb- 
ruary he was back at Vancouver, the guest of 
McLoughlin. His trading plans were now all 
ruined. Nothing could be done with the fur 
trade in opposition to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. His trading establishment at Fort Hall 
did not prosper, the fisheries and other com- 
merce amounted to little. Wyeth lingered in 
the country till the summer of 1S36, when he 
returned to Boston and soon closed out his 
business in Oregon. Some of the men left by 
him began the business of farming, with the 
assistance of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
Thus Wyeth's enterprise is in a very real 
sense a bridge between the purely commercial 
era of northwestern history and the era of 
actual colonization.^ 

But there was also another motive, very 

1 Wyeth kept a regular journal, which has been preserved in 
the family of one of his descendants. A few years ago the manu- 
script was sent from Massachusetts to Oregon and published 
(1899). together with a large number of Wyeth's letters, under 
the editorial direction of Professor F. G. Young, secretary of the 
Oregon Historical Society. The volume forms an invaluable 
source for the study of conditions in Oregon, and the state of the 
western fur trade, during the years covered. A very rare book 
on the first part of the first Wyeth expedition is the little volume 
by John B. Wyeth, published at Boston in 1833. Only a few 
copies are now in existence. It is, however, being reprinted under 
the editorship of Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D. 



missions in 
the West 



146 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Indian different from that influencing the fur trader, 

that was drawing men into the great western 
wilds and on toward the Pacific Ocean. This 
was the desire on the part of many good men 
to do something for the improvement of the 
Indians. There was nothing new in this any 
more than in the fur trade ; but in the one case 
as in the other the period we have now reached 
witnesses a great expansion of effort and better 
oro^anization. A few missionaries had labored 
among the Indians west of the Alleghanies since 
the first settlers crossed those mountains, and 
some of the tribes had made good progress in 
the direction of civilization. With the pur- 
chase of Louisiana, however, it became the 
policy of the government to induce those living 
east of the river to go to the new territory on 
the western side in order to make room for the 
expanding white settlements.^ Some crossed 
over freely, or at least with little objection, but 
others refused to go. After a time the govern- 
ment undertook to remove them. This caused 
great distress among the Indians, and likewise 
produced a mighty wave of sympathy for the 
red men. The newspapers recited their suf- 
ferings, and quoted the pathetic speeches of 

^ Writing of the significance of Louisiana shortly after the 
purchase, Jefferson said, "It will also open an asylum for these 
unhappy people [the Indians], in a country which may suit their 
hal)its of life better than that tliey now occupy, which perhaps 
they will be willing to exchange with us.'' 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 147 

Indian chiefs, forced to leave "the land of their 
fathers, where the Indian fires were going out." 
Missionaries followed, without hesitation, to the 
strange lands where " new fires were lighting 
in the West," and soon a considerable number 
of devoted men were at work among the tribes 
living between the Mississippi and the Rocky 
Mountains. Some were laboring among peo- 
ples they had known east of the river; some 
sought out new fields on the Missouri, the 
Kansas, the Platte, and other streams, where 
they preached, taught the Indian children to 
read, and often induced the natives to till the 
soil and live in permanent houses, instead of 
wandering about in pursuit of game. Some- 
times the government employed the mission- 
aries as teachers or Indian agents, and often 
assisted them by providing a blacksmith to 
make tools and farming implements. 

Since these things were going on in many TheNez 
places throughout the West, and since a few g^^^onfos^. 
persons like Hall J. Kelley had already been Louis 
writing about the Oregon Indians in connection 
with plans for settling that country, it is not 
strange, but perfectly natural, that men should 
at last undertake to Christianize the tribes 
living on the Pacific coast. A little incident 
occurring in 1831 or 1832 (the date is in doubt), 
was sufficient to start the first missionaries across 
the mountains. As the storv sfoes, the nations 



148 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

of the upper Columbia had learned from British 
traders something about the white man's reli- 
gion. Wishing to know more, the Nez Perces 
sent four of their leading men to St. Louis to 
see General Clark, whom they remembered as 
having once visited their country, to ask for 
" the white man's book of heaven," as tlie Bible 
was called among them. These Indians, set- 
ting out on their strange and interesting 
mission, crossed the mountains and the plains 
in safety and reached St. Louis, where they 
were kindly received by General Clark. Two 
of them died while in the city. The remaining 
two started for their own country in spring, 
but one died before reaching the mountains. 
Beginnings The story of thcsc four Lidians, and their 
fJu^ .. lonor iourney to the East in search of spiritual 

Uillamette cy J J 1 

niissiun help and guidance, was soon published in the 
religious papers and created the keenest interest. 
First to respond to the call for teachers was the 
Methodist denomination, which in 1S33 commis- 
sioned Rev. Jason Lee to begin work among 
the Flatheads.^ Learning of Wyeth's plan to 
return to Oregon in spring, Lee arranged to 
have all the provisions and equipments for 
the new mission taken to the Columbia in 
the Afay Dacrc, while he and his nephew, 

^ The Indians who went to St. Louis were often spoken of as 
Flatheads, though in fact they appear to have belonged to the 
Nez Perces branch. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 149 

Daniel Lee, and three laymen, Cyrus Shep- 
ard, P. L. Edwards, and C. M. Walker, joined 
Wyeth's overland party and made their way to 
the Columbia. They decided, for various rea- 
sons, to let the Flatheads wait and to begin 
work among- the Indians on the Willamette. 
All went down to Vancouver, arriving in the 
month of September, 1834. When the May 
Dacrc came in with their supplies, the mis- 
sionaries explored the country for a suitable 
site. " On the east side of the river [Willa- 
mette], and sixty miles from its mouth, a loca- 
tion was chosen to begin a mission. Here was 
a broad, rich bottom, many miles in length, well 
watered and supplied with timber, oak, fir, Cot- 
tonwood, white maple, and white oak, scattered 
along its grassy plains." ^ They immediately 
began preparing materials for a house and 
when the rains of winter came had a respect- 
able shelter. At the same time land was 
fenced for cropping, a barn built, and other 
improvements made ; so that the establish- 
ment took on the appearance of a prosperous 
woodland farm. 

The missionaries were not the only settlers The first 
in the Willamette valley. On arrivinq; here ?^°" 

J o colony 

they found about a dozen white men already 

1 Lee and Frost's " The First Ten Years of Oregon," reprinted 
by the Oregoniaii, Sunday edition, October 11 to January 10, 
1903- 1904. 



I50 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

occupying little farms, scattered along the river, 
where they lived in log cabins with Indian 
wives and families of children. Most of them 
were former servants of the Hudson's Bay 
Company who had either become unfit to 
range the forest, or preferred to settle down to 
cultivate the soil and live a quiet life. Dr. 
McLoughlin furnished them stock and pro- 
visions, as he did the men left in the country 




Old Mission House, Oregon. 



Progress of 
the mission 



by Wyeth, receiving his pay in wheat when 
the crops were harvested, and in young stock 
to take the place of full-grown animals which 
he supplied. Here was the beginning of the 
first agricultural colony in Oregon, and it was 
this mixed community into which the mission- 
aries now came as a new influence, tending to 
bring about better social conditions. 

From the first, the missionaries were more 
successful in their efforts among the neighbor- 
ing settlers than with the surrounding Indians. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 151 

They opened a school, maintained religious 
services, and soon organized a temperance so- 
ciety which, partly through Dr. McLoughlin's 
influence, many of the white men joined. The 
Indian children were admitted to their school, 
and some of them made fair progress in learn- 
ing. Orphans were adopted into the mission 
family from time to time, receiving in this way 
oreater benefits from their contact with civili- 
zation. In 1837 the mission was reenforced by 
the arrival of twenty assistants sent from the 
East in two vessels.^ New efforts were now 
made to Christianize the Indians of the Wil- 
lamette, and the following year a branch mission 
was begun at the Dalles of the Columbia. This 
became an important station ; but the work in 
the valley did not flourish, for the natives were 
a sickly, degraded race, almost beyond the reach 
of aid, and were rapidly dying off. 

Let us now see what was going on in other Parker's 
portions of the Oregon country. The story of 
the Nez Perces delegation to St. Louis had 
affected other denominations as well as the 

1 The first party arrived in May, and contained Dr. and Mrs. 
Elijah White, with two children ; Mr. Alanson Beers, his wife 
and three children; three young women, Miss Pitman, who was 
soon married to Rev. Jason Lee and who died the following year, 
Miss Susan Downing, who married Mr. Shepard. and Miss 
Elvira Johnson: and one unmarried man, Mr. W. H. Wilson. 
The second company, arriving in September, consisted of seven 
persons: Rev. David Leslie, wife and three children, Miss Mar- 
garet J. Smith, and Mr. H. K. W. Perkins. 



tour 



152 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Methodists, and in 1S35 the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent 
out Dr. Samuel Parker to inquire into the 
prospects for missionary work among the Ore- 
gon Indians. Mr. Parker was accompanied 
by a pious young physician, Dr. Marcus Whit- 
man. Together they made the overland 
trip from Liberty, Missouri, with a party of 
Rocky Mountain trappers. Arriving at Pierre's 
Hole, they found Indians of several Columbia 
River tribes, who all seemed anxious to have 
missionaries settle among them. Thinking, 
therefore, that the main point was now gained. 
Dr. Whitman returned to the East to bring out 
assistants and supplies to begin one or more 
missions. Dr. Parker went on, under Indian 
guidance, to the Columbia, arriving at Fort 
Vancouver on the i6th of October. Here he 
spent the winter as the guest of Dr. McLough- 
lin, and when spring came set out for the upper 
country. He stopped at Fort Walla Walla, 
where he preached to a multitude of Indians. 
Then journeying up the valley of Walla Walla 
River he observed, some twenty miles from the 
Columbia, "a delightful situation for a mission- 
ary establishment. ... A mission located on 
this fertile field," he says, " would draw around 
[it] an interesting settlement, who would fix 
down to cultivate the soil and to be instructed. 
How easily might the plow go through these 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 153 

vallies, and what rich and abundant harvests 
might be gathered by the hand of industry." 
From this place he went up the Lewis River, 
where he seems to have fixed upon another site 
for a mission, and then struck off northward, ex- 
ploring the beautiful valley of Spokane River. 
Here, too, were many Indians, who appeared to 
be anxious for religious instruction. Later in 
the year (1836) Dr. Parker sailed from Van- 
couver for the Hawaiian Islands, whence he 
returned to the Atlantic coast by way of Cape 
Horn, reaching his home at Ithaca, New York, 
in May, 1837, after an absence of more than 
two years. ^ 

When Dr. Whitman returned to New York The whit- 
in the fall of 1835, with a report that the Co- ™!^" P'-^-'^y °f 
lumbia River Indians were eager for teachers, 
the board at once commissioned him to super- 
intend the planting of a mission in that coun- 
try. He had some trouble to find helpers, but 
at last Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Spalding consented 
to go with Whitman and his newly married 
wife. Mr. W. H. Gray also joined the party. 
It must have required a great deal of courage 
for these two women to undertake the overland 
trip, which thus far had been accomplished by 
none but men. At Liberty, Missouri, the mis- 
sionaries joined a company of fur traders, and 

^The following year Dr. Parker published his interesting little 
book called ''An Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains.'" 



missionaries 



154 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Beginnings 
of the 
interior 
missions 



traveled with them to the mountauis. In ad- 
dition to saddle horses and pack animals, Whit- 
man had provided his party with a one-horse 
wao-on. At that time there was no road be- 
yond Fort Hall, but on account of Mrs. Spald- 
ing's feeble health, which made it impossible 
for her to keep the saddle, he drove this vehi- 
cle as far as Fort Boise on Lewis River, thus 
opening a new stage in the wagon road to the 
Columbia. 

Arriving at Fort Vancouver in September, 
the women were left under the protection of 
Dr. McLoughlin's family, while the men went 
up the river to begin the missions. On the 
Walla Walla River, about twenty miles above 
the fort, was a place which the Indians called 
Waiilatpu, where the first establishment was 
begun. In this prairie country timber was very 
scarce, and therefore the missionaries built their 
house of "adobes," large brick made of clay and 
baked by exposure in the sun.^ This finished, 
the second station was begun on the Clear- 
water, at its junction with the Lapwai, a short 
distance below the point wiiere Lewis and 
Clark, in 1805, reached the navigable waters 
of the Columbia. The place was in the midst 
of the Nez Perces country, about one hundred 



^ These particular brick were twenty inches long, ten inches 
wide, and four inches thick, as Dr. Whitman wrote to a fellow- 
missionarv on Platte River. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 1 55 

and twenty miles east of Waiilatpu. Mr. and 
Mrs. Spalding took up their abode here while 
the Whitmans remained at the Walla Walla 
station. 

The Indians of this country were far superior Expansion 

. ,1 r , /^ of the work; 

ni every way to those ot western Oregon, gpoj-^^e 
They were wanderers during a good share of mission 
the year, but the winters were usually spent 
in fixed places, where they could be reached 
with ease. It was not long before many of 
them became interested in the schools estab- 
lished at both missions for their benefit, and 
after a time some were taken into the church. 
Special efforts were made to teach them to 
depend more upon agriculture and less upon 
hunting:, hshinor, and the search for camas 
roots. It was easy to cultivate the soil in this 
region, as Dr. Parker foresaw, so that the 
Indians were soon raising little fields of corn 
and patches of potatoes, which added much to 
their comfort and well-being. In the spring 
of 1837 Whitman planted twelve acres of corn 
and one acre of potatoes, besides peas and bar- 
ley. A few cattle were early procured from 
the East, and these multiplying rapidly, and 
beine added to from time to time, soon devel- 
oped into considerable herds, of which the 
Indians secured a share. "In the fall of 1838 
a small party came from the East overland to 
reenforce the up-river missions. It consisted 



interior 
missions 



156 A HISTORY OK THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

of Rev. Gushing Eells and wife, Rev. Elkanah 
Walker and wife, Rev. A. B. Smith and wife, 
Mr. W. H. Gray and wife, and Mr. G. Rogers.^ 
Now it was determined to occupy the nortliern- 
most of the three mission fields selected by Dr. 
Parker, the Spokane country, where the families 
of Walker and Eells establish themselves in the 
spring of 1839.' 
Life at the Thus the tribes of the interior country were 
at last brought under the influence of a few 
men and women wholly devoted to their wel- 
fare, and understanding with a fair degree of 
clearness how to guide these barbarians along 
the path of civilization. The task was stu- 
pendous ; but the missionaries knew it was 
not impossible, and labored with exemplary 
courage. They preached to the natives as 
regularly as possible, gathered the children and 
their elders in the schools, translated portions 
of the Bible into the Indian language and 
printed them on a little press, the gift of the 
Hawaiian missionaries ; they helped the Indians 
build houses for themselves, showed them how 
to till their fields and lead water upon the grow- 
ing crops; they erected rude mills to grind 

1 Gray, who came to tlie Columbia in 1836 with Wiiitman and 
Spalding, had gone back to secure help, and was married before 
returning. 

2 This place was known as Tsimakane. For a short time a 
station was also occupied at Kamiah, on Lewis River. 



PIONEERS OF THE PIONEERS 



157 



their corn and wheat. Work was more than 
abundant for these few men and women, yet 
this only made their condition the more pitiable 
for its intense loneliness. The families were 
so widely separated that visits required a great 
deal of time, which could seldom be spared. 
Once a year the men from the several stations 




TsiMAKANE Mission. 



gathered at Waiilatpu to conduct the annual 
business of the mission, and occasionally two 
or three families managed to be together for 
a brief time. But for the most part they de- 
pended on letters sent by Indian carriers to 
keep them in touch with their fellow-workers, 
and on trading or trapping parties to bring 
news from down the river, where social life was 
so much brighter, and where ships came in from 



158 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

foreign shores. Toward the end of the long 
summer, when the corn was ripening in the 
field, they looked with longing for the annual 
pack train coming down from the Blue Moun- 
tains, which usually brought letters from friends 
in eastern homes, and sometimes a welcome 
traveler or missionary. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 

The United States government, in all its Ten years of 
departments, dropped the Oregon question J^j^j"^ Jg^t. 
when Gallatin secured the second treaty of 1837 
joint occupation. For nearly ten years after 
that date neither Congress nor the executive 
made any move of importance toward settling 
the dispute with England, or assisting Ameri- 
can citizens to gain a foothold within the Oregon 
country. Yet this period, 182 7-1 837, is of great 
importance in the history of Oregon because of 
the doings of the first pioneers as described in 
the preceding chapter. Trappers, traders, and 
missionaries had entered the region ; and while 
little impression was made upon the business 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, a few Ameri- 
cans remained to till the soil and to instruct 
the Indians in religious things. This created 
a bond between the United States and the dis- 
tant Columbia which forced the government 
to take an interest in that country. The ques- 
tion of the future of Texas had also compelled 
the United States to concern itself about the 
Mexican territories, and at one time (1835) 

159 



visit to 
Oregon 



l6o A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

President Jackson was anxious to buy northern 
California in order to secure the fine harbor 
of San Francisco. Accordingly, he sent an 
agent, Mr. W. A. Slacum, to the Pacific to 
collect information for the government, and on 
this voyage the first official visit was paid to 
Oregon, 
siacum's Slacum arrived in the Columbia River at 

the end of the year 1836, with particular in- 
structions from President Jackson to govern 
his doings there. He was to visit all the white 
settlements on and near the Columbia, as well 
as the various Indian villages ; to make a com- 
plete census of both whites and Indians, and 
to learn what the white people thought about 
the question of American rights in Oregon. 
Briefly, he was to " obtain all such information 
... as [might] prove interesting or useful to the 
United States." Mr. Slacum performed his 
work with a good deal of thoroughness. He 
made charts of the Columbia River, locating 
all the principal Indian villages; visited Fort 
Vancouver to learn about the fur trade and 
other business of the establishment ; and went 
up the Willamette valley to the Methodist 
mission, calling at nearly every settler's cabin 
passed on the way. He was pleased with the 
country, found the missionaries doing good 
work among the French and other settlers, 
and became enthusiastic over the ao-ricultural 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT i6l 

advantages of the Willamette valley. He pro- 
nounced it " the finest grazing country in the 
world. Here there are no droughts," he says, 
*'as on the Pampas of Buenos Ayres or the 
plains of California, whilst the lands abound 
with richer grasses both winter and summer." 

Mr. Slacum believed that if the settlers could Thewnia- 
be better provided with cattle, which were as ™^"^ ^^"^^ 

^ Company, 

yet comparatively scarce, the prosperity of the 1837 
country would be assured ; and with this idea 
the Oregon people heartily agreed. The 
Hudson's Bay Company, while generous in 
providing farmers with work oxen, were not 
prepared to sell breeding stock freely, because 
their herds were not yet large enough to more 
than supply their own needs. The only prac- 
tical way to obtain more cattle was to bring 
them overland from California, where the 
Mexican ranchers were slaughtering many 
thousands each year for the sake of the hides 
and tallow which they sold mainly to Boston 
shipowners.^ There was one settler in the 
Willamette valley who was familiar with Cali- 
fornia, having lived there several years before 
cominfy to Orecron. This was Ewinc: Youno- a 
man of considerable talent and enterprise, who 

^ One of the most entertaining books on early California is 
Ricliard H. Danals classic story, " Two Years Before the Mast.'" 
It gives an account of the author's experience while a sailor on 
one ,of the "hide and tallow" ships trading along the California 
coast. 

M 



l62 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

now headed a movement for bringing cattle 
from the South.' Slacum encouraged the 
project in every way, especially by offering to 
carry to California without expense the men who 
were to go for the purpose of securing cattle. 
An association was formed, with Young at its 
head, that took the name of the " Willamette 
Cattle Company." A fund of several thousand 
dollars was subscribed, partly by Dr. McLoughlin 
for the fur company, partly by the Methodist 
mission, and the remainder by individuals. 
Mr. Slacum himself took a small financial inter- 
est in the company. Ewing Young and P. L. 
Edwards, with a few others, took passage in the 
Loriot (Slacum's ship) to California, where they 
bought eight hundred head of cattle at three 
dollars apiece, and forty horses at twelve dol- 
lars apiece. After many vexations and hard- 
ships they arrived in the Willamette valley 
with six hundred head of stock, the remainder 
having been lost by the way. 

The bringing of these cattle, in the fall of 1837, 
marks the opening of a new era for Oregon. 

^ Young was a noted frontiersman, originally from Tennessee, 
who early began trading in New Mexico. From there he went to 
California in 1829 and came to Oregon overland with a few others 
in 1834, driving a band of horses. One of his companions on 
this trip was the famous Oregon agitator, Hall J. Kelley, of 
Boston. Kelley had e.xpected to bring out a colony to Oregon 
in 1832; but failing to secure colonists, he finally started on his 
own account, going to Mexico, thence to California, and finally with 
Young: to Oregon. 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 163 

It gave a great stimulus to stock raising, for 
which the country was specially adapted, pro- 
moted the prosperity of the settlers already 
there, and, by the reports which soon traveled 
eastward, caused many people in the Mississippi 
valley to look with longing eyes toward this 
land of ease and plenty, thus preparing the 
way for the colonizing movement which was 
about to begin. 

Mr. Slacum returned to the United States Renewal of 
and made his report to the government. In ^gj^^ti^nm 
December, 1837, this document, so interesting Congress 
as the earliest particular account of the Willa- 
mette settlement, was presented to Congress 
and immediately aroused great interest. One 
of the points which Slacum insisted upon 
was that the United States must never accept a 
northern boundary for Oregon that would give 
to the British government the great harbor of 
Pueet Sound. In other words, his idea was 
that w^e should hold out sturdily for the 49th 
parallel, already thrice offered, and refuse 
utterly to take Great Britain's offer of the 
Columbia boundary. This doubtless strength- 
ened the determination of a few leaders in 
Congress to secure a law for the military 
occupation of the Columbia, similar to that 
which Mr. Floyd tried to obtain fifteen years 
earlier. At all events, the Oregon ques- 
tion now came up once more and remained 



l64 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

before Congress, in some form, during the 
succeeding ten years, till Oregon was effectively 
settled by the pioneers, a favorable treaty obtained 
from Great Britain, and an American territory 
created on the Pacific coast. 
Linn's bill Of the many men who took part in the Ore- 

Tanurrv°Ind §*-*^^ discussions, bctwecn the years 1837 and 
June, 1838 1843, none was more active or determined than 
Dr. Lewis F. Linn, senator from Missouri. 
He believed thoroughly in American rights 
on the Pacific, was inclined to belittle the 
British claims, and insisted on the urgent ne- 
cessity of taking military possession of the 
Columbia River. He proposed also to estab- 
lish a territorial government for Oregon. His 
first bill for these purposes was presented to 
the Senate in January, 1838, and in June Dr. 
Linn brought in a report on the Oregon ques- 
tion. This was a lengthy document, containing 
a history of the events on which our right to 
the Oregon country rested, and trying to show 
that the British claim was not well founded. 
In these respects it differed little from the 
earlier report by Floyd ; yet on many points 
Linn was able to oive information never before 
presented to the country. For example, he 
described the road to Oregon, which had re- 
cently been traversed by two women in the 
Whitman-Spalding party. Many brief docu- 
ments containing valuable information were 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 165 

printed as appendices to the report, which thus 
became a sort of text-book for the study of the 
Oregon question. Thousands of copies were 
printed, and in the next few years they were 
distributed all over the country, especially 
through the West, with the result that num- 
bers of men soon became interested in " our 
territory on the Pacific," as Oregon was fre- 
quently called/ 

Other influences were working to the same Jason Lee's 
effect. Jason Lee, the superintendent of the y,^'^'^!^* ^ ^ 
Willamette mission, returned to the United party 
States in the summer of 1838 "to obtain addi- 
tional facilities to carry on . . . the missionary 
work in Oregon territory." He traveled over- 
land with a few companions, passing through 
the frontier settlements of Missouri and Illinois, 
where he accepted invitations to lecture and to 
preach in the churches. A principal aim was 
to raise money for his missionary enterprise, 
but incidentally Lee aroused a good deal of 
enthusiasm for the far-off country, so rich in 
natural resources, where he had lived during the 
preceding four"years, almost within sight of the 
Pacific Ocean. At Peoria, Illinois, he left one 
of two Indian boys who had gone east with 
him, and perhaps partly on that account a 
special interest was aroused at that place. In 

^When the pioneers began to go to Oregon copies of Linn's 
Report were among the very few books taken across the plains. 



l66 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

the following spring Mr. Thomas J. Farnham 
of Peoria, with a company of fourteen men, 
undertook the overland trip to Oregon. He 
failed to keep his party together, and finished 
the journey with but three associates. Farn- 
ham visited the Whitman mission, and later 
the Willamette settlement, after which he took 
ship to the Hawaiian Islands and to California. 
On his return to the United States he pub- 
lished popular accounts of the Oregon country, 
as well as of California, which were widely read 
and helped to swell the rising tide of interest in 
the far west. 
Petitions The scttlcrs in the Willamette valley in- 

trusted Farnham with a memorial to Congress, 
asking that the protection of the United States 
government might be extended over them. 
Lee had carried with him from Oregon a simi- 
lar petition, which was presented to Congress 
in January, 1839, by Senator Linn. It spoke 
of the fertility of the Willamette and Umpqua 
valleys, the unsurpassed facilities for stock 
raising, the mild and pleasant climate of west- 
ern Oregon, and the exceptional opportunities 
for commerce. A special point was made of 
the growing trade with the Hawaiian Islands, 
whose people needed the beef and flour pro- 
duced in the Willamette valley, and would 
soon be able to exchange for them coffee, sugar, 
and other tropical products required by the 



and 
memorials 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 167 

Oregon settlers.^ " We flatter ourselves," say 
the thirty-six signers of the memorial, " that we 
are the germ of a great state. . . . The country 
must populate. The Congress of the United 
States must say by whom. The natural re- 
sources of the country, with a well-judged 
civil code, will invite a good community. 
But a good community will hardly emigrate 
to a country which promises no protection 
to life or property. . . ." Lee personally 
wrote a letter to Congressman Caleb Cushing 
of Massachusetts, in which he reenforced the 
statements made in the petition.^ " It may be 
thought," he says, " that Oregon is of little im- 

1 The discovery of these islands by Captain Cook in January, 
1778. proved of great importance in Pacific coast history. Their 
situation made them the natural calling place for all vessels com- 
ing up the coast from Cape Horn, and also for ships crossing the 
Pacific to or from China. When discovered, the several islands 
of the group were occupied by barbarous tribes, each independent 
of all the others. About the close of the eighteenth century there 
arose a great chief called Kamehameha, who succeeded in uniting 
most of the tribes, and in opening trade with the owners of ships 
calling at the Islands. A prosperous era now began. In 1820 
American missionaries established themselves at Honolulu, and 
soon this place became a center of civilization affecting all the 
tribes. The relations of the Hawaiian missionaries with the Ameri- 
can people in Oregon, and afterward in California, was always 
very close. Visits were occasionally made to the Pacific coast, 
and, as stated in the last chapter, the Hawaiian missionaries pre- 
sented those on the Columbia with a small printing-press, the first 
ever used on the Pacific coast of the United States. 

2 Cushing made a report to the House of Representatives 
in 1839 which in some respects supplemented the report made 
by Linn to the Senate the year before. 



l68 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

portance ; but depend upon it, sir, there is the 
germ of a great state." The Oregon people 
desired from Congress two things : first, the 
protection of the laws of the United States; 
second, a guarantee that they might keep the 
lands already taken up by them. Linn, Gush- 
ing, and other men made a faithful effort to 
obtain such laws ; but the prevailing sentiment 
was against them, and no bill passed either 
house, of Congress till 1843.^ 
The Oregon Wc havc uow to dcscribc a movement aris- 
EnXrlTio^n ^'"'S outsidc of Cougrcss in the summer of 1838, 
Society; its whicli added largely to the effect of the agita- 
purpose tion begun by Linn and Cushing. This w^as 
the so-called Oregon Provisional Emigration 
Society, organized at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 
August, 1838. The society was not a mission- 
ary organization purely, though most of its 
leading members belonged to the Methodist 
denomination. Its aim was "to prepare the 
way for the Christian settlement of Oregon." 
It proposed to enlist several hundred Christian 
families, send them to Oregon overland, and 

1 It was, indeed, a very difficult matter to draw up a bill for the 
extension of our national authority over Oregon without violating 
either the letter or the spirit of the treaty of joint occupation. 
Many members of Congress refused to support the bills presented 
by Linn and others because it was feared their passage might 
embroil us with Great Britain. See on this point tlie valuable 
paper of Dr. J. R. Wilson on "The Oregon Question," published 
in the Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, March and 
September, 1900, 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 169 

encourage them to make use of all the advan- 
tages for stock raising, commerce, fishing, etc., 
that the country afforded. But this was not 
to be the only aim of the settlement, for which 
the founders of the society had " nobler pur- 
poses in view." They believed it might be pos- 
sible to Christianize the Indians, educate them, 
and make them citizens of a new common- 
wealth in which they were to have all the rights 
and privileges of white citizens. The theory 
was that while the Indians east of the Rockies 
had already become hopelessly degraded, those 
in the Oregon country were still mainly sound, 
and if taken in time might be saved. 

The society published a monthly magazine The 
called at first The Orcgonian. The phrase '<^'^'"'^" 
and I lid i ail s Advocate was afterward added 
to the title. It was edited by Rev. Frederick 
P. Tracy, of Lynn, Massachusetts, who was 
also the secretary of the society. In the num- 
bers of this mao-azine we find a laro-e amount 
of information concerninor the Oreoon of 
seventy years ago.^ The editor grew eloquent 

^ Apparently only eleven numbers were printed. It begins 
with October, 1838, and ends with August, 1839. Files of this 
paper are very rare. The writer has seen and used two : the 
first is in the State Historical Library of Wisconsin, at Madison, 
the other in the private library of Hon. F. V. Holman of Port- 
land, Oregon. Doubtless there are others, especially in Massa- 
chusetts. It contains Linn's and Cushing's reports, a review of 
Parker's book, letters from missionaries, and other matter con- 
cerning Oregon. 



I/O A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

in the effort to set before his readers the pos- 
sibilities of this great country. He called it 
" the future home of the power which is to rule 
the Pacific, . . . the theater on which mankind 
are to act out a part not yet performed in the 
drama of life and government." Oregon's "far- 
spreading seas and mighty rivers [were] to 
teem with the commerce of an empire " ; her 
" boundless prairies and verdant vales [were] 
to feel the steps of civilized millions ; . . . " — 
Colonizing Such cnthusiasm, supported by much valu- 
pan ais ^|^|^ information, must have produced consid- 
erable effect, since the magazine reached 
a circulation of nearly eight hundred copies. 
But in addition to this the society also sent an 
agent into the western states to enlist emigrants, 
who were to go to Oregon in the spring of 
1840. Nothing came of the colonizing scheme, 
although the plans had been carefully worked 
out. It is a most interesting fact that the society 
had gained the good will of the Hudson's Bay 
Company in London, and their promise to pro- 
vide the Oregon colony with merchandise at 
rates to be agreed upon. The organization 
appears to have dropped into the background 
by the end of the year 1839. But by this time 
there were little knots of men in various parts 
of the United States, — Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, — 
who thought of forming emigration societies to 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 171 

colonize Oregon. There was some delay in 
carr3ang out these plans ; but the idea had be- 
gun to take hold of the popular mind, and a 
few years would see the wagon trains gathering 
for the wonderful journey across the continent. 

We left Jason Lee busily at work in the Lee's mis- 
eastern states raisino^ money and men for his mis- ^^^^"^7 .. 

& J colonization 

sionary reenforcement. He was remarkably sue- scheme 
cessful, securing, with the help of the Methodist 
board, the large sum of forty-two thousand dol- 
lars. He got together a company of over fifty 
persons — men, women, and children — with 
whom he sailed from New York in the ship Lau- 
sanne on the loth of October, 1839. In the fol- 
lowing May they reached the mouth of the 
Columbia from Hawaii, and on the ist of June 
all were safely landed at Vancouver. Here the 
party separated. One of the ministers. Rev. J. 
H. Frost, was sent to the mouth of the Columbia ; 
Rev. A. F. Waller took charge of a station at 
Willamette Falls ; two others, Rev. W. W. Cone 
and Rev. Gustavus Hines, went to the Umpqua 
to begin a new mission, which did not succeed; 
Mr. Brewer and Dr. Babcock, laymen, reen- 
forced the station at the Dalles ; and Rev. J. 
P. Richmond, with his family and Miss Clark 
as teacher, went up to the station already begun 
near Fort Nesqually on Puget Sound. The 
rest of them passed up the Willamette to the 
central mission near the present capital city of 



Lieutenant 
Wilkes 



172 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Salem, where some took lands, and helped to 
change this establishment into the true Ameri- 
can colony it now became. About the same 
time a number of Rocky Mountain trappers 
settled in the valley, and still further increased 
the American influence. The colony now con- 
tained more than a hundred people. 
Visitor In the year 1841 Oregon received a visit 

from Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, commander 
of the Pacific Exploring Squadron sent out by 
the United States government in 1838.^ Wilkes 
took pains to travel through all the settled por- 
tions of the Willamette valley, and gives a de- 
tailed account of what he found there. Near 
the mouth of the river was a group of young- 
men building a small vessel, which they called 
The Star of Oregon, and whicli was after- 
ward taken to San Francisco and exchanged 
for cattle. At the falls were Waller's mission 
and a trading, or rather salmon-packing, station 
of the Hudson's Bay Company. At a place 
called Champoeg there were four or five cabins, 
in one of which Wilkes was entertained by an 
old seaman, named Johnson, who had fought in 
the o-lorious naval battle between the Constitu- 

o 

^ Two other noteworthy visitors to Oregon during this year 
were Sir George Simpson, governor of tlic Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, who was on his trip around tlic world, and a French diplo- 
mat, Duflot de Mofras, at that time connected with the French 
legation in Mexico. Each wrote a book, in which some account 
of Oregon is contained. 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 173 

tion and the Giierriere} Farther up the river 
were observed " many small farms of from fifty 
to one hundred acres, belonging to the old ser- 
vants of the company, Canadians, who [had] 
settled here ; they all [appeared] very comfort- 
able and thrivins:." Twelve miles above Cham- 
poeg dwelt the Catholic priest. Father Blanchet, 
" settled among his flock, . . . doing great good 
to the settlers in ministering to their temporal 
as well as spiritual wants." The traveler 
passed a few more farms before reaching the 
first of the buildings belonging to the Metho- 
dist mission. Wilkes was entertained by Mr. 
Abernethy, whose family was one of the four 
living in the " hospital " erected by Dr. White 
— "a well-built frame edifice with a double 
piazza in front, . . . perhaps the best building 
in Oregon." A ride of five miles brought him 
to "the mill," ^ where he found "the air and stir 
of a new secular settlement ; . . . the mission- 
aries [had] made individual selections of lands to 
the amount of one thousand acres each, in the 
prospect of the whole country falling under our 
laws." He was convinced that they were now 
more interested in building up the country than 
in laboring further among the few rem'aining 
Indians. Neither did they care to leave the 

^ Johnson afterward built the first house in the city of Port- 
land. 

'■^ This was near the present site of Salem. 



174 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Relations 
with the 
Hudson's 
Bay 
Company 



Willamette valley in order to find a more 
hopeful mission field, but preferred to remain 
here and direct the future development of the 
new colony they had done so much to create. 
Among these people Wilkes heard much about 
a plan to establish a provisional government for 
Oregon. This he discouraged, believing that 
there were as yet too few American settlers to 
make the experiment a success. 

Wilkes found some of his countrymen dis- 
posed to complain of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany ; but he appears to have given little heed 
to these mutterings, knowing that there was 
no serious cause of trouble between the two 
nationalities. In a very real sense the Ameri- 
can settlers were dependent upon the fur com- 
pany, and owed to it much of the prosperity 
they enjoyed. McLoughlin generously assisted 
the newcomers with stock and supplies, ad- 
vancing in this way large sums in the aggre- 
gate ; the fort was the regular market for all 
the wheat and other surplus produce raised in 
the valley, and its stores furnished all the gro- 
ceries, clothing, shoes, and other manufactured 
goods which brought homelike comforts to 
every little cabin, and luxury to a few of the 
more pretentious dwellings in the settlement. 
The fur company, too, was the wall of defense 
as:ainst the Indians of the entire country with- 
out which Oreo-on could not have been settled 



THE COLONIZING MOVEMENT 175 

when it was by feeble parties of missionaries 
and others from the United States, It must 
not be supposed that the British traders neg- 
lected to look sharply after their own commer- 
cial and national interests ; but these were not 
often directly opposed to the interests of the 
settlers. Moreover, the officers of the company 
in Oregon — McLoughlin, Douglas, Ogden, and 
most of the others — were liberal and humane 
men, inclined to deal fairly with the Americans 
who had at least as good a right as themselves 
to be in the country/ Therefore, in summing 
up the causes bringing about the colonization 
of the Pacific Northwest we must not omit to 
mention the presence on the Columbia of the 
great British trading establishment, which in 
most respects served the purpose of protection 
and help to settlers as well as an American fort 
could have done. 

The year after Wilkes's visit, Oregon re- Dr. white's 
ceived the first considerable partv of the emi- company of 

^ ^ 120 settlers, 

grants coming from the United States by the 1842 
overland route. Dr. Elijah White, who had 
arrived in the country in 1837, returned to the 
East by sea in 1840. Soon after this the gov- 
ernment began to think of sending an Indian 

^ They must have known, also, that if serious offense had been 
given to the American government in the ill treatment of their 
citizens in Oregon, the government of Great Britain would be 
placed at a disadvantage in the contest for territory in Oregon. 



176 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

agent to Oregon, and early in the year 1842 
White was appointed to this position, with in- 
structions to take out as many emigrants as 
could be got together in the West. White 
delivered lectures in various places, interviewed 
pioneers in Missouri and elsewhere, and soon 
had a company of about one hundred and 
twenty men, who started from Independence, 
Missouri, in May, and made a successful jour- 
ney across the mountains. The party Look 
wagons as far as Fort Hall, using pack horses 
from this place to the Columbia.^ 
The Ash- While this company was on its way across 

the plains. Lord Ashburton and Daniel Web- 
ster were discussing at Washington all the cjues- 
tions remaining unsettled between the United 
States and Great Britain ; and on the 9th of 
August, they signed what is called the Ash- 
burton Treaty. Americans had hoped that the 
Oregon question might be settled at this time ; 
but in the negotiations it was soon found that 
Great Britain was not yet prepared to make 
concessions, and the treaty omitted all mention 
of the matter. 

^ About the same time the government sent out Lieutenant 
John C. Fremont to explore a route into the Rocky Mountains. 
This was the first of his '"path-finding" expeditions. 



burton 
Treaty, 1S42 



CHAPTER XII 

THE GREAT MIGRATION 

Many people were grievously disappointed at The Oregon 

the outcome of the Webster-Ashburton neo-o- ^'^^^^^o" i" 

1842 

tiation, because of the silence of the treaty con- 
cerning Oregon. Yet, looking back from this 
distance, it is dif^cult to see how any serious 
evil could result from a further delay in settling 
the question. It had already waited a quarter 
of a century, during most of which time Ameri- 
cans had no interests in the region west of the 
Rockies. Now they not only had the begin- 
nino;s of an actual settlement in the Willa- 
mette valley, but everything foreshadowed such 
a large emigration to the Columbia that our 
position would soon be much stronger than 
that of our adversary. The situation was a 
little like that on the Mississippi prior to the 
Louisiana Purchase ; and just as Jefferson 
wanted time to plant strong American com- 
munities on the banks of this river before 
forcing an issue with France, so far-sighted 
statesmen of forty years later were glad to 
see the pioneers preparing for the journey to 
N 177 



1/8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



in 1843 
White's 
letter 



Oregon, because this would strengthen the 
American claim as against Great Britain.' 
The Certainly at the time the Ashburton Treaty 

prospect for ^^,^g si^jncd American prospects were briorhten- 

emigration '^ ' ' ^ 

ing. In the same month (August, 1842), Dr. 
White wrote a letter from the mountains in 
which he assured the frontiersmen that the 
Oregon colony would prove successful, that 
his company would reach the Willamette in 
safety, and that a good pilot'-' could be procured 
to bring out a company the following spring. 

This was doubtless one of the causes inducing 
the pioneers to prepare for the overland march 
in 1843. But there were many others. The 
long agitation in Congress, reports, speeches, 
newspaper articles, and letters had given the pio- 
neering class considerable information about the 
Oregon country. They knew that the W'illa- 
mette valley was a favored land for the farmer 
and stockman, possessing a rich soil, mild cli- 



Other 
causes; 
the Oregon 
country 



1 President Tyler, writing three years later (October 7, 1845) 
to Mr. Calhoun, says that he hesitated to take up the Oregon 
negotiation after the treaty of 1842, "believing that under the 
convention of joint occupation we stood on the most favorable 
footing. Our population was already finding its way to the shores 
of the Pacific, and a few years would see an American Settlement 
on the Columbia sufficiently strong to defend itself and to protect 
the rights of the U. States to the territory." 

2 This term, ordinarily used to designate a person who steers 
ships, or directs their course especially into harbors, was com- 
monly employed sixty years ago by travelers in the Rocky 
Mountains as an equivalent for the term "guide." 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 179 

mate, and such a combination of prairie and 
forest, with springs of pure water everywhere, 
as would make the opening of new farms pecul- 
iarly easy and pleasant. In the western states, 
the settlers had suffered much for the lack 
of easy transportation, their crops bringing 
scarcely enough to pay for the labor expended 
upon them ; but in Oregon they would have a 
navigable river at their doors, and the ocean 
but a short distance away. The market for 
grain was said to be good, cattle were reported 
to be worth four times what they were bringing 
in western Missouri, and in each case the cost 
of production was very much less. Oregon, also, 
had other resources, aside from these exceptional 
agricultural advantages. Her streams were full 
of the finest salmon, which might be packed 
and shipped at a good profit ; splendid forests 
of fir and pine, extending down to the water's 
edge, invited the establishment of lumber mills ; 
and unlimited water power was at hand for all 
manufacturing purposes. Such a combination 
of elements, the pioneers thought, would insure 
the development of a prosperous state on the 
shores of the Pacific. 

For several years, the western people had "Hard 
experienced continuous "hard times," with low^ times," 

^ _ ^ slavery, 

prices for everything they had to sell, and al- the spirit of 

1 • 1. 'i. i. • J.1 • ^• adventure, 

most no opportunity to improve their condi- patriotism 
tion either in farminor or other business. The 



l80 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

spirit of unrest on these accounts was wide- 
spread. Moreover, many persons in the south- 
western states were beginning to feel very 
keenly the evils of slavery, which was causing 
violent agitation throughout the country, and 
were anxious to remove their families beyond 
the reach of its influence. But underneath all 
other motives was a distinctly American love 
of adventure, the product of generations of 
pioneering. It was the spirit of the frontiers- 
men of the olden time : the longing to open 
new " trails," to subdue strange lands, and 
make new settlements. True, men had abun- 
dant opportunity to " move " without crossing 
the western mountains. They might go 
from Ohio to Michigan, Wisconsin, or Iowa ; 
from Kentucky to western Missouri, Arkan- 
sas, or Texas. But, while thousands were each 
year doing this, such migrations after all were 
hardly satisfying to those remembering the 
deeds of pioneer ancestors who had traversed 
the " Wilderness Road " into Kentucky, and 
settled in a wild region amid constant dangers 
and alarms from hostile savages. The stories 
of Boone, Kenton, Clark, and scores of others 
were still recited around frontier firesides by 
old men and women who spoke out of their 
own vivid recollections of these border heroes. 
Such talcs fired the imaginations of the young, 
and prepared a generation of men for a new 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 



l8l 



feat of pioneering, more arduous in some 
respects than that of seventy years before. 
And what an ahuring prospect was theirs! A 




Sweetwater Gap, on the Oregon Trail. 

journey of two thousand miles through an un- 
inhabited wilderness; the crossing of a vaster 
system of mountains than any of which the 
fathers knew ; majestic snow peaks, deep, dark 
canons through which the rivers rushed and 



the 
companies 



182 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

roared in their headlong progress toward the 
west ; tedious stretches of barren plain ; valleys 
of enchanting loveliness ; and at last the noble 
river and the great, strange, inspiring sea ! 
Add to all this the belief, which many held, 
that their going to Oregon would benefit the 
United States in its contest with Great Britain 
over territorial rio^hts, and we have a combina- 
tion of motives powerful enough to set hun- 
dreds of pioneers in motion. 
Collecting The approach of spring (1843) found num- 

bers of men in various sections of the country 
preparing for the march. The companies had 
been organizing for many months. Correspond- 
ence committees in western Missouri received 
names of intending emigrants as early as Sep- 
tember, 1842. An emigration agent from St. 
Louis, Mr. J. M. Shivley, spent the winter in 
Washington, kept the people of the West in- 
formed as to the progress of legislation respect- 
ing Oregon, and tried to induce the Secretary 
of War to provide a company of troops to es- 
cort the emigrants. Senator Linn once more 
brought up his bill for the establishment of a 
territorial government and the granting of 
lands to settlers. It passed the Senate on tlie 3d 
of February by the close vote of twenty-four to 
twenty-two. Although afterward killed in the 
House of Representatives, the enthusiasm and 
hope aroused by the passage of the bill through 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 1 83 

the Senate had much to do with starting new re- 
cruits to the place of rendezvous. So did, also, 
the public meetings held in various places, like 
Columbus and Chillicothe, Ohio, and Spring- 
field, Illinois, to discuss the Oregon question 
and to adopt resolutions urging Congress to 
pass the Linn bill. A few men of large influ- 
ence in the western communities had decided 
to emigrate, and they undertook to persuade 
others by means of newspaper articles, personal 
interviews, and public addresses. In Bloom- 
ington, Iowa, the entire population appears to 
have been affected by what men called the 
" Oregon fever " ; they held several public meet- 
ings, organized an emigrating party, adopted 
rules concerning equipment, the route to be 
taken, and other details of preparation for the 
journey. 

Independence, Missouri, had for some years Organizing 
been the oreneral outfittins: place for companies ^°'^*/^ 

'^ <^ i ^ march 

of traders, trappers, and emigrants going to the 
far West. The village lay a few miles from 
the Missouri River, near the present site of 
Kansas City, and was the radiating point for 
many wilderness highways, including the great 
Santa Fe and Oregon " trails." All the small 
parties from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, In- 
diana, Illinois, and Iowa, as well as those from 
Missouri, gathered at this place. By the mid- 
dle of May many had arrived, driving in from 



1 84 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Peter H, 
Burnett; 
the start ; 
Elm Grove 



all directions two, three, a dozen or twenty 
wagons at a time, with loose stock following 
behind the train. They now made arrange- 
ments for the start, adopting a body of rules, 
and choosing a pilot to conduct them through 
the mountains. The pioneers were then ready 
to move forward. 

Probably the leading man of this emigration 
was Peter H. Burnett, a young lawyer from 
Platte County, Missouri, who had done much 
to get the company together. He kept a diary 
during the course of the journey, and on reach- 
ins: the Willamette wrote a number of letters 
for the New York Herald, giving an account of 
the trip. Looking back from his far western 
home to the time of beginning their march 
from Missouri, and realizing both its difficulties 
and the significance of what had been done, he 
says: "On the 2 2d of May we began one of 
the most arduous and important trips under- 
taken in modern times." The first camp, at 
Elm Grove, on account of its strange pictur- 
esquencss, produced a strong impression upon 
the mind of Burnett, as it probably did on 
others. " I have never witnessed a scene," he 
says, " more beautiful than this. Elm Grove 
stands in a wide, gently undulating prairie. 
The moon shed her silvery beams on the white 
sheets of sixty wagons ; a thousand head of 
cattle grazed upon the surrounding pLiin ; fifty 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 1 85 

campfires sent up their brilliant flames, and 
the sound of the sweet violin was heard in the 
tents. All was stir and excitement." 

By the time they had crossed the Kansas Electing 
River (June i) a orood many others had joined °^':^.^^'' ^ 

^■' ^ !=> J J division of 

the company, which now numbered one hun- the 
dred and tw^enty wagons, nearly one thousand '^°™P^"y 
persons of all ages, and more than five times 
as many animals. Stopping to complete the 
organization, Peter H. Burnett was chosen cap- 
tain, J. W. Nesmith orderiy sergeant, and nine 
others designated to form a council. A few 
days later, however, Burnett resigned, and the 
company was divided into two parts. Each 
division had sixty wagons ; but one was com- 
posed mainly of those who had few or no loose 
cattle, and called " the light column " ; while the 
other contained the owners of the herds, large 
and small, with which this emigration was en- 
cumbered, and took the name of " the cow-col- 
umn." There was a separate captain for each. 

The leader of the second division was Cap- "ADay 
tain Jesse Applegate, a man whom the people ^^'^._^ ^ 
of Oregon delight to honor as one of the noblest Column," 
of the pioneers. He is remembered as a states- wg^'' ^'" 
man, a surveyor, a pathfinder through the south- Applegate 
ern mountains, and in general a leader in all 
the varied activities of frontier life in the North- 
west. But, fortunately, he was also a writer of 
elegant English prose ; and one of the most 



the stock 



l86 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

delightful productions of his pen is an account 
which he wrote in 1S76 of a typical day on this 
long march " with the cow-column." Since 
this essay gives us so lifelike a picture of the 
great emigration in motion toward the west, 
and since it describes the camping methods in 
use for many years among trapping parties and 
traders, as well as emigrants to Oregon and 
California, we cannot do better than to tran- 
scribe a portion of it.' 
Daybreak; "It is four oclock A.M.; the seutiuels on 
u'rcTmn duty have discharged their rifles — the signal 
that the hours of sleep are over — and every 
wagon and tent is pouring forth its night 
tenants, and slow kindling smokes begin largely 
to rise and float away in the morning air. 
Sixty men start from the corral, spreading as 
they make through the vast herd of cattle and 
horses that make a semicircle around the en- 
campment, the most distant perhaps two miles 
away. 
Corraiing " Tlic hcrdcrs pass the extreme verge and 

carefully examine for trails beyond, to see that 
none of the animals have strayed or been 
stolen durino- the niofht. This mornins: no 
trails lead beyond the outside animals in sight, 

^ The paper was first read Ijy Mr. Ap])legate before the Ore- 
gon Pioneer Association in 1876, and published in their pro- 
ceedings ; recently it has been reprinted in the Quarterly of the 
Oregon Historical Society (December, 1900). 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 187 

and by five o'clock the herders begin to con- 
tract the great moving circle, and the well- 
trained animals move slowly towards camp, 
clipping here and there a thistle or a tempting 
bunch of grass on the way. In about an hour 
five thousand animals are close up to the en- 
campment, and the teamsters are busy select- 
ing their teams and driving them inside the 
corral to be yoked. The corral is a circle one 
hundred yards deep, formed with wagons con- 
nected strongly with each other ; the wagon in 
the rear being connected with the wagon in 
front by its tongue and ox chains. It is a 
strong barrier that the most vicious ox cannot 
break, and in case of attack from the Sioux 
would be no contemptible intrenchment. 

" From six to seven o'clock is a busy time ; Getting 
breakfast is to be eaten, the tents struck, the ^^^^^ ^""^ 

' ' the day s 

wagons loaded and the teams yoked and march 
brought up in readiness to be attached to their 
respective wagons. All know when, at seven 
o'clock, the signal to march sounds, that those 
not ready to take their places in the line of 
march must fall into the dusty rear for the day. 
There are sixty wagons. They have been 
divided into fifteen divisions or platoons of 
four wagons each, and each platoon is entitled 
to lead in its turn. The leading platoon to-day 
will be the rear one to-morrow, and will bring 
up the rear unless some teamster through in- 



l88 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

dolence or neligence has lost his place in the 
line, and is condemned to that uncomfortable 
post. It is within ten minutes of seven ; the 
corral but now a strong barricade is every- 
where broken, the teams being attached to the 
wagons. The women and children have taken 
their places in them. The pilot (a borderer 




A Buffalo Hunt. 



who has passed his life on the verge of civiliza- 
tion and has been chosen to his post of leader 
from his knowledo'e of the sava2:e and his ex- 
perience in travel through roadless wastes) 
stands ready, in the midst of his pioneers and 
aids, to mount and lead the way. Ten or fif- 
teen young men, not to-day on duty, form 
another cluster. They are ready to start on a 
buffalo hunt, are well mounted and well armed, 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 1 89 

as they need to be, for the unfriendly Sioux 
have driven the buffalo out of the Platte, and 
the hunters must ride fifteen or twenty miles to 
find them. The cow drivers are hastening, as 
they get ready, to the rear of their charge, to 
collect and prepare them for the day's march. 

"It is on the stroke of seven ; the rush to Breaking 
and fro, the crackincr of whips, the loud com- ^^"^p; /"''■ 

•-' '^ ward along 

mand to oxen, and what seemed to be the the trail 
inextricable confusion of the last ten minutes 
has ceased. Fortunately every one has been 
found and every teamster is at his post. The 
clear notes of a trumpet sound in the front; 
the pilot and his guards mount their horses ; 
the leading divisions of the wagons move out 
of the encampment, and take up the line of 
march ; the rest fall into their places with the 
precision of clockwork, until the spot so lately 
full of life sinks back into that solitude that 
seems to reign over the broad plain and rushing 
river as the caravan draws its lazy length to- 
wards the distant El Dorado. . . . 

" The pilot, by measuring the ground and The 
timing the speed of the horses, has determined "°°"»"g 
the rate of each, so as to enable him to select 
the nooning place as nearly as the requisite 
grass and water can be had at the end of five 
hours' travel of the wagons. To-day, the ground 
being favorable, little time has been lost in 
preparing the road, so that he and his pioneers 



IQO A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Session of 

the 

"council" 



The drowsy 
afternoon 



are at the nooning place an hour in advance 
of the wagons, which time is spent in preparing 
convenient watering places for the animals, and 
digging little wells near the bank of the Platte. 
As the teams are not unyoked, but simply 
turned loose from the wagons, a corral is not 
formed at noon, but the wagons are drawn up 
in columns, four abreast, the leading wagon of 
each platoon on the left, the platoons being 
formed with that in view. This brings friends 
together at noon as well as at night. 

" To-day an extra session of the council is 
being held, to settle a dispute that does not admit 
of delay, between a proprietor and a young man 
who has undertaken to do a man's service on 
the journey for bed and board. Many such 
cases exist, and much interest is taken in the 
manner in which this high court, from which 
there is no appeal, will define the rights of 
each party in such engagements. The council 
was a high court in the most exalted sense. 
It was a senate composed of the ablest and 
most respected fathers of the emigration. It 
exercised both legislative and judicial powers, 
and its laws and decisions proved equal, and 
worthy of the high trust reposed in it. . . . 

" It is now one o'clock ; the bugle has 
sounded and the caravan has resumed its west- 
ward journey. It is in the same order, but the 
evening is far less animated than the morning 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 191 

march. A drowsiness has fallen apparently on 
man and beast ; teamsters drop asleep on their 
perches, and even when walking by their teams ; 
and the words of command are now addressed 
to the slowly creeping oxen in the soft tenor of 
women or the piping treble of children, while 
the snores of the teamsters make a droning 
accompaniment. . . . 

" The sun is now getting low in the west, Forming the 
and at length the painstakino^ pilot is standing: '^^^"'"s 

01 a r o camp; 

ready to conduct the train in the circle which nightfall 
he has previously measured and marked out, 
which is to form the invariable fortification for 
the nioht. The leadino- wao^ons follow him so 
nearly around the circle that but a wagon length 
separates them. Each wagon follows in its 
track, the rear closing on the front, until its 
tongue and ox chains will perfectly reach from 
one to the other ; and so accurate [is] the meas- 
ure and perfect the practice, that the hindmost 
wagon of the train always precisely closes the 
gateway. As each wagon is brought into posi- 
tion it is dropped from its team (the teams being 
inside the circle), the team is unyoked, and the 
yoke and chains are used to connect the wagon 
strongly with that in its front. Within ten 
minutes from the time the leading wagon 
halted, the barricade is formed, the teams un- • 

yoked and driven out to pasture. Every one is 
busy preparing fires ... to cook the evening 



192 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

meal, pitching tents and otherwise preparing 
for the night. . . ." The watches " begin at 
eight o'clock p.m. and end at four o'clock a.m." 
Arrival nt The daily routine, here so graphically de- 

scribed, must have become extremely weari- 
some to the pioneers and their families after 
a few months spent upon the dusty, dreary 



Fort II a 
August 27 




The Old Trail along the Sweetwater. 

"trail." At the end of ninety-eight days, on 
the 27th of August, the company reached Fort 
Hall, the trading post built by Wyeth in 1832 
and afterward sold to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, which had become a famous way station 
on the overland route. They were now on the 
eastern border of the Oregon country, and two- 
thirds of the distance to the Willamette had 



THE GREAT MIGRATION I93 

been traversed. The hardships ah^eady en- 
dured from storm, flood, and the unavoidable 
mishaps of the long journey across the plains 
were very great ; yet all were aware that the 
most difficult portion of the trip was still before 
them. Thus far the road had been compara- 
tively good ; at least, the wagons always had a 
well-marked trail to follow. But this practically 
terminated at Fort Hall, which was connected 
with the lower country only by a pack trail. 
No loaded wagons had ever passed the fort, 
and when the pioneers set out from their homes 
in the spring it was generally understood that 
the wagon road ended at this place. However, 
they soon found that it would be impossible to 
secure enough pack horses to carry their fami- 
lies and property to the Columbia, as the small 
parties of previous years had done, and so it 
became necessary to go forward with the wagons 
at all hazards. The company was large, they 
could send roadmakers ahead to prepare the 
way, and might be able to overcome even the 
worst difficulties by united effort. Besides, they 
had with them Dr. Whitman of the Walla 
Walla mission, who had taken his light wagon, 
without a load, as far as Fort Boise in 1836, 
and who knew more about the possibility of 
opening a wagon trail through the region still to 
be traversed than any of the other men. Whit- 
man felt certain they could succeed, urged the 



194 



A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



From Fort 
Hall to 
Waiilatpu 
clown the 
Columbia 



company to make the venture, and offered to 
act as guide. His services to the emigrants 
from Fort Hall westward were very great, and 
are remembered with gratitude by the early 
pioneers of the Northwest/ 

They left Fort Hall on the 30th of August, 
passed Fort Boise September 20, and ten 




Mr. Hood. 

days later came in sight of the Grand Ronde, 
the famous circular valley of the Blue Moun- 
tains. Its peaceful beauties are said to have 
so impressed the travelers, after the toils and 
hardships of the days spent in the desert, that 

^ The circumstances inducing Dr. Whitman to make the win- 
ter journey from his mission on the Walla Walla to Boston and 
Washington will be narrated in Chapter XiV . 



THE GREAT MIGRATION 195 

some broke into tears of joy as they looked 
down upon it from the high plateau above. 
Ten days later they reached Whitman's station, 
where many of them bought supplies of wheat 
and potatoes for the trip to western Oregon. 
A portion of the emigrants arranged to leave 
their cattle in the Walla Walla valley; some 
drove herds overland ; while the families, the 
wagons, and other property were taken down 
the Columbia in boats and rafts. By the end 
of November all had reached the Willamette 
valley.^ 

1 Most of the sources from which this account of the great 
emigration is written were discovered by the writer while search- 
ing through files of old newspapers preserved at Madison, Wis- 
consin, St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri. A portion of the 
matter thus found has been reprinted in the Quarterly of the 
Oregon Historical Society, where it can be conveniently referred 
to. The most important single source for the journey is the 
Burnett NeraM letters, reprinted in the Quarterly for December, 
1902. A series of other short letters appears in the Quarterly for 
June, 1903, and still others in several recent numbers. The 
Quarterly, edited by Professor F. G. Young, secretary of the 
society, was begun in March, 1900, and has now completed the 
fifth volume. In it has already been gathered a large amount of 
valuable source material relating to the history of the Northwest, 
as well as numerous special articles by pioneers and others. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON THE 
PACIFIC 

Importance The emigration whose organization and 
°^^.'^^ . movements have just been described marks a 

emigration _ ■' ^ 

of 1843 new starting point in the history of the North- 
west. Up to this time we have been deahng 
wnth events which may be looked upon as 
introductory ; now we begin actually to see the 
process of state building on the shores of the 
Pacific. Just as in Virginia the colony can 
hardly be said to have been planted prior to 
the arrival of Delaware's party in 16 10; as in 
Massachusetts it was the great company 
brought out by Winthrop in 1630 which firmly 
established the English people, although the 
beginnings of settlement already existed ; so on 
the Pacific coast the emigration of 1843 closes 
the period of experiment, and gives us a true, 
self-supporting American colony. In the 
present chapter we shall do scarcely more than 
point out some of the changes produced in 
Oregon during the succeeding three years as a 
result of this influx of new people. 

The earliest attempts to form a provisional 
196 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 197 

government for the Willamette colony were Beginnings 
made several vears prior to i84';; but, as we °' l'^'^ ^s'- 

■' . - . ^^ ^ ' ^ talion for a 

shall see, the organization was not put into government 
effective operation till after the new emigrants 
arrived/ When our people began going to 
the country there were no American laws to 
control their actions, and no government what- 
ever except that 
which was exer- 
cised over Brit- 
ish subjects by 
officers of the 
Hudson's Bay 
Company. The 
missionaries in 
the Willamette 
valley, and the 
other settlers 
who gradually 
collected there, 
resrarded this as 
one of their prin- 
cipal grievances, 

, ,11 Governor George Abernethy. 

and repeatedly 

petitioned Congress to extend the laws of the 

United States over them. But, as we have seen, 




1 In the history of the Northwest the terms '"emigrants" and 
'■ emigration " have commonly been used instead of '• immi- 
grants " and "• immigration." The custom will be preserved in 
these pages. 



198 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

that body could not be induced to take any 
action. In 1840, with the arrival of the Lau- 
sanne company and the Rocky Mountain trap- 
pers of that year, the American party felt greatly 
strengthened and began to talk of organizing 
a provisional or temporary government on their 
own account, in the expectation of giving it up 
whenever the United States should be prepared 
to extend its authority over the country. The 
French settlers, however, being attached to the 
fur company, remained satisfied with conditions 
as they were. 
The first Early in 1841 an incident occurred which 

f*^P , brought out sharply the need of some regular 

toward an o i J o 

organiza- authority, and set in motion plans to secure a 
political organization. Ewing Young, the pio- 
neer stockman of the Willamette valley, whose 
connection with the cattle company has already 
been described, had, in the course of nine years' 
residence in the country, become possessed of 
a large herd of cattle and considerable other 
property. In February of this year he died, 
without making any provision by will for the 
disposition of his estate, and so far as known 
leaving no heir. His neighbors were naturally 
very much interested in the case, and it is 
claimed that those who gathered at Young's 
funeral issued a call for a general meeting to 
consider what was to be done with this prop- 
erty. On the 17th of February, when the 



tion, 1841 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 199 

public meeting occurred, resolutions were of- 
fered providing for a committee to draft a con- 
stitution and laws. This body was selected on 
the 1 8th, and besides the settlers chose Dr. Ira 
L. Babcock of the Methodist mission to be su- 
preme judge with probate powers. They pro- 
vided also for a clerk of courts and recorder, 
a high sheriff, and three constables. The 
meeting then adjourned to the second Tuesday 
in June. Dr. Babcock, on the 15th of April, 
appointed an administrator for Ewing Young's 
property, this being, it is believed, the first of- 
ficial act of the Oregon provisional government. 

When the June meeting took place it was The plan 
found that the committee appointed to draft a 
constitution and laws had done nothing, not 
even so much as to meet for consultation. The 
reason was plain enough. In their anxiety to 
gain the support of the French settlers the 
missionary party, which controlled the earlier 
meetings, had succeeded in making the French 
priest, Father Blanchet, chairman of the com- 
mittee. But he refused to take any interest in 
the matter and failed to call the committee to- 
gether. Blanchet now resigned, and his place 
being filled by an American it seemed that 
something would probably be clone. The com- 
mittee was instructed to meet on a particular 
day and report to a meeting of the settlers set 
for October. But now a new obstacle appeared 



miscarries 



200 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

in the person of Lieutenant Wilkes, who showed 
himself decidedly opposed to the plan of a pro- 
visional government. The result was that the 
whole matter was dropped for more than a year. 
The In the fall of 1842 Dr. White arrived as In- 

question re- ^[^^^ RQ-Qut brimxino" his company of one hun- 

suined in o ' o o i j 

1843; the dred and twenty new settlers. Although the 
meeting" French party had also been strengthened, it now 
appeared to some of the Americans that the 
time for action had come. The matter was 
discussed during the winter, and with the ap- 
proach of spring a favorable opportunity arose 
to secure a public meeting. The settlers' 
herds had suffered much from the ravages of 
wild beasts, an evil which called for some 
means of exterminating the forest foes. On 
the 2d of February, 1843, '^ gi'oup of persons 
gathered at the Oregon Institute appointed 
a committee to " notify a general meeting," 
which was held on the second Monday of 
March. The committee was prepared with 
resolutions advising that bounties be paid for 
killing wolves, lynxes, bears, and panthers ; 
that a subscription fund be raised for that pur- 
pose ; and that officers be appointed to manage 
the business. These being adopted, the more 
important and interesting resolution was offered, 
" That a committee [of twelve] be appointed to 
take into consideration the propriety of taking 
steps for the civil and military protection of the 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 201 

colony." ^ This also received a favorable vote, 
and now the plan to create a provisional gov- 
ernment was fully launched. 

Only two months were allowed to intervene The provi- 
between the appointment of the committee and ^^°"^' ^°^" 

'■ ^ ernment 

the meeting to consider its report. It was a voted at 
time of great political activity in the settle- ^i^^^^^ii' 
ment. The French people were still generally 




Mount Rainier from the South. 

opposed to the scheme, as they declared in a 
formal address to the colonists prepared about 
this time, and many of the Americans were 
far from enthusiastic. There was much un- 
certainty in the minds of the settlers as they 

1 This resolution was proposed by Mr. W. H. Gray, who was 
then living in the Willamette valley, and who bore a prominent 
part in the affairs of the colony at this time. 



202 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

gathered at Champoeg on the 2d of May. 
The committee, however, reported in favor of 
estabHshing a government. When a motion 
was made to adopt this report, the vote was 
very close and some one called for a division 
of the house. At this point arose the stalwart 
figure of "Joe" Meek, one of the most pic- 
turesque of the " mountain men," and a person 
of considerable influence among certain classes 
in the community. Stepping out grandly in 
front of the crowd of excited men he shouted : 
" Who's for a divide ? All in favor of the re- 
port and of an organization, follow me." The 
count was made, we are told, after half an hour 
of the greatest confusion, and resulted in fifty- 
two (52) votes in favor of and fifty (50) against 
the resolution. So the project to organize a 
provisional government was carried. 
Election of The officcrs recommended by the committee 
officers; the ^qyq choscu bcforc the adjournment. They 

July meet- , "^ 

ing were a supreme judge, a clerk and recorder, 

a high sheriff (Joe Meek was very properly 
elected to this post), three magistrates, three 
constables, a major and three captains of mi- 
litia. A legislative committee composed of nine 
members was also chosen at this meeting, and 
instructed to report a code of laws to be voted 
on by the people July 5. The pioneers who 
gathered at Champoeg to hear a 4th of July 
address by Rev, Gustavus Hines remained over 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 20^ 

to the next day and ratified the provisions of 
the so-called First Organic Lavv.^ 

"We the people of Oregon Territory," so a govern- 
the preamble of this famous document recites, "^^"'^y 

^ ' " compact 

"for purposes of mutual protection, and to se- 
cure peace and prosperity among ourselves, 
agree to adopt the folio-wing laws and regula- 
tions until such time as the United States of 
America extend their jurisdiction over us." 
Here we have the well-known American method 
of forming a government by "compact," or 
agreement. Two hundred and twenty-three 
years earlier, w^hen the Pilgrim Fathers met 
to draw up their " Mayflower Compact," this 
principle was employed for the first time in 
American history, and soon afterward the early 
colonists of Connecticut followed it in their 
" Fundamental Orders." When, at a later time, 
American pioneers crossed the Alleghanies to 
eastern Tennessee, and found themselves be- 
yond the jurisdiction of any seaboard state, 
they formed the " Watauga Association." Simi- 
lar pioneer governments were created in Ken- 
tucky, on the Cumberland River, and elsewhere.^ 

^ This document, as well as the provisional constitution of 
18^5, may be conveniently found in Strong and Schafer's "Gov- 
ernment of the American People," Oregon edition, Boston, 1901, 
Appendix. 

- The people of Vermont, for example, had a government of 
their own, created by compact or agreement among themselves, 
for fourteen years before the state was admitted to the Union. 



204 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

The Willamette settlers were following in the 

footsteps of their ancestors. 
The emigra- The work of the pioneers at Champoeg was 
tion o I 43 £ very o;reat importance in the history of 

saves the -^ & 1 J 

provisional Orcgon and the Pacific coast ; for it called 

government . , , , , • r i , ,\ \ 

the attention or men everywhere to the Ameri- 
can colony in this region ; it quickened the 
interest of the United States government; and 
announced to Great Britain that her subjects 
were no longer completely dominant in the 
Pacific Northwest. Yet, while the Americans 
then in the country deserve great credit for 
taking the first steps, these results were largely 
due to the appearance of the great emigration 
in the fall. It changed the small American 
majority into an overwhelming one ; provided' 
able political leaders, like JBurnett, Applegate, 
McCarver, Nesmith, Waldo, and Lovejoy; in- 
creased the property of the country; and gave 
a feeling of security and stability which only 
numbers can impart. 
Govern- The government as adopted in July, 1843, 

">^^"^^i while probably the best that could then be 

improve- ^ ■> 

mentsmade sccurcd, was in somc respects very weak. In- 
I'LV^" stead of a governor there was to be an execu- 
tive committee of three. The land law, which 
was of greater interest to most of the settlers 
than any other feature, was especially defective, 
because it allowed the Catholic and Protestant 
missions to claim each an entire township, aside 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 205 

from the land their members held as individual 
settlers. Lastly, there was no way to raise 
money for the support of the government 
except by private contributions, a thoroughly 
inefficient and always disappointing method. 
The legislative committee of 1844, made up 
mainly of the newcomers, revised the entire 
system, providing for a governor, a house of 
representatives, a more satisfactory judiciary, 
a new land law permitting none but actual 
settlers to hold claims, and above all a means 
of raising taxes to support the government. 
This last was the keystone of their political 
arch, as the leaders well knew, and they were 
wise enough to fit it exactly to. its purpose. 
The law required that every settler's property 
should be assessed according to regular rates, 
and in case any one refused to pay the tax ap- 
portioned to him, he was to lose the right to 
vote and all other benefits of the government. 
If his claim were jumped, the court could not 
relieve him ; if a thief were to drive off his 
cattle or slaughter them in the pasture, the 
sheriff and the constables would turn a deaf 
ear to his appeal for help. He would become 
an outlaw. 

In these ways the provisional government success of 
was completed. The new scheme was adopted ^!^^ pJ""^^' 

^ ^ sional gov- 

by a large majority on the 26th of July, 1845, eminent 
and Oregon at last had a constitution similar 



206 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Effect of the 
great 
migration 
on later 
emigrations 



in most respects to that of an ordinary state, 
government, — firm, just, and 



was a 



good 



It ^ ^ 

effective in all its departments. The settlers 
supposed it was to last only a few months, be- 
lieving the United States was about to take 
control of the country ; but in fact this event 
did not occur till nearly four years later. In 
the meantime there was no reasonable cause of 
complaint against the government maintained 
by the sturdy, sober, order-loving pioneers 
themselves. 

While these political matters were being 
settled, western Oregon was filling up with 
new people whose coming was due very largely 
to the success of the 1843 emigration. When 
that company started, many thousands of people 
followed their movements with anxiety, not a 
few regarded them as foolish adventurers, and 
Horace Greeley declared : " This emigration of 
more than a thousand persons in one body to 
Oregon wears an aspect of insanity." ^ When 
they reached the Columbia in safety, proving 
that loaded wagons could be taken through 
without serious difficulty, a great change in- 



1 New York Tribune, July 22. 1843. He feared that their 
provisions would give out. their stock perish for want of grass 
and water, their children and women starve. '• For what," ex- 
claimed Mr. Greeley, ''do they brave the desert, the wilderness, 
the savage, the snowy precipices of the Rocky Mountains, the 
weary summer march, the storm-drenched bivouac and the gnaw- 
ings of famine ? " 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 207 

stantly came over the thought of the country 
with respect to Oregon. It was a startHng 
thing to eastern people to be told, by a man 
who had made the trip, " You can move here 
[from Missouri] with less expense than you 
could to Tennessee or Kentucky." Moreover, 
many prominent pioneers wrote home giving 
favorable accounts of the country, Burnett 
said, " If man cannot supply all his wants here, 
he cannot anywhere." Another declared : " The 
prospect is quite good for a young man to make 
a fortune in this country, as all kinds of prod- 
uce are high and likely to remain so from the 
extensive demand. The Russian settlements in 
Asia [Alaska.^], the Sandwich Islands, a great 
portion of California, and the whaling vessels 
of the Northwest coast procure their supplies 
from this place." McCarver found " the soil 
of this valley . . . equal to that of Iowa or any 
other portion of the United States; . . ." and 
T. B. Wood wrote, " The prairies of this region 
are . . . equal to any in Missouri or Illinois." 
Such letters were commonly printed, first in 
the local paper of some western town, then in 
the more widely read journals of the country, 
with the result that Oregon took its place in 
the popular mind by the side of Wisconsin, 
Iowa, and Texas, as a territory possessing 
attractions for the home seeker. 

The emigrating company of 1844 numbered 



208 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

The emigra- about fourteeii huiidrcd. The parties reached 
tion of 1844 ^YiQ Missouri frontier early in the spring and 
set out in good time. But the wetness of the 
season caused many delays, so that they reached 
the western slope very late, and mostly in want 
of provisions. A small party was hurried for- 
ward to bring supplies from the Willamette 
valley, some bought food of the missionaries 
on the Walla Walla, and even of the Indians, 
and finally, late in the fall, most of them reached 
their destination in a sorry state. The rains 
having already set in, there was no chance to 
provide proper shelter, and many suffered great 
inconvenience, if not actual hardship. The 
earlier settlers were forced to listen to a good 
deal of repining from the newcomers ; but, as 
one of them wrote, this " only lasted during 
the winter. In the spring, when the clouds 
cleared away, and the grass and flowers sprang 
up beneath the kindling rays of a bright Oregon 
sun, their spirits revived with reviving nature, 
and by the succeeding fall they had themselves 
become old settlers, and formed a part of us, 
their views and feelings, in the meantime, having 
undergone a total change." ^ 
' In the year 1845 Oregon received the largest 

^ Quoted from Burnett's " Recollections of an Old Pioneer," 
New York, 1880. The portion of this book relating to Oregon, 
which contains a large amount of valuable matter on early con- 
ditions, the emigration of 1843, etc, has been reprinted in the 
Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. V. 



Meek's 
' cut-off " 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNiMENT ON PACIFIC 209 

of the early emigrations, a body of nearly three The emigra- 
thousand people. They started, not in a single ^^g" ° 
caravan like the earlier parties, but in com- horrors of 
panics of fifty, seventy-five, a hundred, or two 
hundred wagons. All went well till after they 
passed Fort Boise, where the emigrants encoun- 
tered Stephen H. L. Meek, who offered to guide 
them over a trail by way of the Malheur River, 
said to be much shorter than that commonly 
used.^ Unfortunately, about one hundred and 
fifty wagons followed him into the most barren 
and desolate country that eastern Oregon con- 
tains, and where as it proved there was no 
road except an old pack trail. Stock perished, 
food gave out, the emigrants became desperate 
in their anxiety to find water. When they 
reached a little oasis in the desert, they formed 
a camp, while mounted men to the number of 
one hundred scoured the country in every 
direction for water, only to return at nightfall 
without finding it. This was continued for 
several days in succession. Meantime the 
children and the weaker adults were falling 
sick, and many of them were dying. In the 
midst of this despair a galloping horseman 
brought the glad news of the- discovery of water. 
The hated guide had found it. Grief was now 
turned to joy; loud shouts rang out; there was 
laughing and clapping of hands. But some 

1 Sixty wagons had turned off at Fort Hall to go to California. 



2IO A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Population 
of Oregon ; 
its distri- 
bution 



Origin of the 
Paget Sound 
settlement 



stood reverently silent, with bowed heads and 
eyes brimming over with tears of thankfulness. 
The stream found proved to be a branch of the 
Des Chutes River, along the course of which 
the travelers passed down to the Dalles, whence 
a few days brought them to the Willamette. 
They had suffered the most terrible agony on 
the route, wasted forty days of precious time, 
and worse than all, lost about seventy-five of 
their number.^ Those emigrants who followed 
the customary route entered the valley at the 
usual time without serious mishap. 

The population of Oregon, which was doubled 
by the arrival of the emigrants of 1845, ^"^ow 
numbered about six thousand, settled in five 
counties, of which all but one were in the Willa- 
mette valley. They were Yamhill, Clackamas, 
Tualatin, Champoeg, and Clatsop. In the elec- 
tion of 1845 the total vote for governor was five 
hundred and four. The following year it was 
more than doubled, and a new county, Polk, had 
been added to the list of those lying south of the 
Columbia, while there was now also a county, 
named Columbia, north of the river. 

The new northern county has its explanation 
partly in the fact that a few Americans were by 
this time settled on the waters of Puget Sound. 
When the colonists first beran coming to Ore- 

^ The names of thirty-four, nearly ail adults, were printed in 
the eastern jjapers of the next year. 



FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ON PACIFIC 211 

gon they were usually dependent on the Hud- 
son's Bay Company for supplies, stock, tools, 
and in general everything necessary to start 
them in farming. McLoughlin, believing that 
Great Britain would at last come into posses- 
sion of the region north of the Columbia, tried 
to prevent American settlers from taking claims 
on that side of the river, directing them all to 
the Willamette. For a time this plan worked 
well, but when the best lands of the valley were 
all taken up, and Americans became so numer- 
ous in the country as to feel somewhat independ- 
ent of the fur company, a few pioneers began 
to think of taking claims north of the river. 
Of the party which arrived in the fall of 1844 a 
few men, under the lead of M. T. Simmons, 
tried to reach Puget Sound overland, but failing, 
returned to the neighborhood of Vancouver, 
where they spent the winter. The following sum- 
mer Simmons started out once more, with six 
companions, made his way up the Cowlitz to the 
head of navigation, and then westward to the 
lower end of the Sound. One of their fellow- 
emigrants of the previous year, John R. Jackson, 
was already established in a cabin on the high- 
land north of the Cowlitz, and the pioneers also 
saw the large farm opened some years before 
by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a 
branch of the fur company. They were de- 
lighted with the prospects of the Puget Sound 



212 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The Hud- 
son's Bay 
Company 
accepts the 
protection 
of the 
provisional 
government 



country, with its splendid opportunities for 
commerce and manufactories ; and returning for 
his family, Simmons settled, in October, on a 
claim near the site of Olympia. Four other 
families and two single men took claims in the 
same neighborhood, and thus was the foundation 
laid for a new community in the north. 

While these sturdy frontiersmen were hew- 
ing a road through the jungle north of Cowlitz 
Landing, the settlers in the Willamette were 
winning their greatest political victory by in- 
ducing the ofhcers of the fur company to bring 
themselves, their people, and all the property of 
the organization under the protection of the 
provisional government. This was achieved 
on the 15th of August. The monopoly, which 
had dominated the affairs of the Northwest for 
a quarter of a century, had at last sunk to a 
subordinate position ; and the Oregon question, 
so far as control of the country itself was con- 
cerned, had been settled by the pioneers.^ 

1 McLoughlin made a special arrangement with the officers of 
the government, whereby the company was to be taxed only on 
the merchandise which it sold to settlers. Jesse Applegate is the 
man who negotiated this important agreement. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 

The change which had occurred in the rela- How the 
tions between Americans and Ena^Hshmen in settlement 

'-' of Oregon 

Oregon no doubt had its effect upon the Brit- affected the 
ish government at home. So long as the Hud- l^^f°iQ^ 
son's Bay Company was in control west of the 
Rockies, there was every reason, from their 
point of view, to continue the principle of "joint 
occupation." But the tables had at last been 
turned: American settlers were in full posses- 
sion of the region south of the Columbia, and 
were even beginning to open the forests north 
of the river. It must have been clear to Great 
Britain for these reasons that further delay in 
settling the Oregon question would be wholly 
to her disadvantage. 

In the United States a remarkable agitation The Oregon 
had begun in the spring of 1843. It was due in arcindn" 
part to the failure of Linn's bill, and in part to a nati, juiy, 
rumor that the government at Washington was ^ 
willing to give up the region north of the Co- 
lumbia to Great Britain if she would persuade 
Mexico to sell us northern California. Many 
local meetings were held in various parts of the 

213 



214 ^ HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Origin of 
the demand 
for 54° 40' 
as the 
northern 
boundary 



" Fifty-four 
forty or 
fight " 



Mississippi valley, and these resulted in the 
calling of an Oregon convention at Cincinnati 
in July, 1843.^ Nearly one hundred delegates 
were in attendance, and not only the Mississippi 
valley, but the entire country was interested in 
their proceedings. 

This convention adopted resolutions declar- 
ing that the United States had an undoubted 
right to the country west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains between the parallel of 42° on the south 
and 54° 40' on the north. In other woj'ds, the 
line established in 1824 to separate American 
interests from those of Russia was regarded as 
the rightful northern boundary of the United 
States in the Pacific Northwest. This would 
have shut Great Britain out from the territory 
west of the Rockies, notwithstanding the ex- 
plorations of her Mackenzies, her Thompsons, 
Cooks, and Vancouvers ; and would have left 
no beaver ground on the Pacific slope for her 
traders, who had controlled the commerce of 
that region for thirty years. 

This was claiming too much for the United 
States. But there was some slight ground for 
it, and besides many Americans were out of 
patience with Great Britain for refusing to 

^ The idea of a Mississippi valley convention to consider the 
Oregon question originated at Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio States- 
man for this period is the best source of information on the entire 
movement. Its files were consulted in the library of the Wis- 
consin Historical Society at Madison. 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 21 5 

accept the compromise line of 49° so often 
offered. They therefore took up the idea of 
the more northerly boundary, and insisted that 
the country must go to war with our adversary 
rather than abandon any part of the " Oregon 
country." The next year (1844), when the Dem- 
ocratic convention met and nominated James 
K. Polk for the presidency, the western dele- 
gates succeeded in making the Oregon cjues- 
tion a part of their platform ; and so it came 
about that the entire country was treated to 
the strange campaign cry of " Fifty-four forty 
or fight," which probably helped somewhat to 
win the election for Mr. Polk, 

After the failure to provide for the north- The Oregon 
western boundary in the Ashburton Treaty, <i"^^*^J°" 
President Tyler had begun other negotiations 
with the British government, but always in 
vain. On the 4th of March, 1845, he went out 
of office with, as he wrote, the " one wish re- 
maining unfilled," that he could have settled 
the Oregon question. President Polk at once 
took it up, declared in his inaugural address 
that our claim to the Oregon country was un- 
doubtedly just, and soon entered into a new 
correspondence with Great Britain. In spite 
of the Democratic platform and campaign utter- 
ances, he again offered to compromise on the 
49th parallel. When the British minister re- 
fused to accept the offer, Mr. Polk withdrew it, 



2l6 A HISTORY OF THE PACHTC NORTHWEST 

indicatino- that no further concession could be 
expected from the United States. Later in the 
year he asked Congress for authority to put 
an end to the treaty of joint occupation. This 
was granted ; but many prominent members 
like John C. Calhoun, fearful that these steps 
might lead to war, urged the President to give 
Great Britain an opportunity to make some 
offer on her part, which he consented to do. 
The tardy concession came at last, June, 1846, 
in the shape of an offer from the British gov- 
ernment to settle the long dispute by taking the 
49th parallel as the boundary. The President 
submitted the question to the Senate, which ad- 
vised him to accept, and on the 15th of June 
the treaty was signed. The Oregon question 
was now settled, and that in a way which was 
perfectly fair to all parties concerned. 
Oregon to Bcforc thc closc of the year (December 3) 

wait for a ^^^^ peoplc of Orcofon learned of the sig;ninoj 

territorial I r ^ O ^ ^ o o 

government of thc treaty with Great Britain, and supposed 
that the United States would at the next ses- 
sion of Congress establish a territorial govern- 
ment over them. This, indeed, was the desire 
of the President, and a bill for the purpose 
actually passed the House of Representatives, 
but could make no progress in the Senate. 
The reason was not far to seek. In drawing 
up the constitution for their provisional gov- 
ernment the pioneers inserted the famous 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 21/ 

clause from the Ordinance of 1787, declaring 
that " neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime," should ever 
be permitted in the territory. This was made 
a part of the Oregon bill presented by Stephen 
A. Douglas of Illinois, and very naturally 
called out the opposition of strong proslavery 
leaders like Calhoun. 

So the congressional session of 1 846-1 S47 President 
closed with no provision for Oresfon. The f.""^^ ^^^ 

^ _ _ p Senator 

President felt a deep interest in this far west- Benton 
ern settlement, and caused Secretary of State J'he'oreSn 
Buchanan to write a letter to the Oregon people 
people encouraging them to expect favorable 
action at the next session of Congress (1847- 
1848), which was already at hand when the 
letter reached the Pacific. Buchanan made no 
clear statement of the reason for the failure of 
the Douglas bill. At about the same time, 
however, a letter was received in Oregon from 
Senator Thomas H. Benton, who threw the 
blame upon Calhoun, but declared : " You will 
not be outlawed for not admitting slavery. . . „ 
I promise you this in the name of the South, 
as well as of the North." . . . 

It was something to know that the leaders Congress 
at the national capital still remembered them; ^g^'^^^ked 

i ' to pass a 

yet the pioneers had been patient for a long bill; star- 
time, w^aiting for the government to give them f/oif orrgon 
some sort of recognition ; and now that the 



2l8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

quarrel with Great Britain was closed, it was 
hard for them to understand why action should 
be longer delayed. President Polk was as good 
as his word, recommending strongly to the 
next Congress the passage of an Oregon bill. 
But the opposition was at work once more, as 
in the previous year, and might have been 
equally successful but for a piece of startling 
news carried across the mountains during the 
winter that roused public feeling in favor of 
Oregon, and practically forced Congress to act. 
This was the report of the Whitman massacre, 
into the causes and the history of which we 
must now inquire. 
The up-river The missious planted on the upper Columbia 
missions 1^ Y)^, \^/Y\[iyY\a.n and his associates in 18^6 and 

and their J ^ 

problems the ycars following were influenced very little by 
the colonizing movement described in the pre- 
ceding chapters. Their location on the broad 
interior plains prevented them from quickly be- 
coming centers of extensive settlements like the 
Willamette mission, so favorably located near 
the coast. Therefore, while western Oregon had 
been growing into a state, the up-river mission- 
aries were laboring faithfully to teach the ele- 
ments of civilization to a horde of barbarous 
natives. For a few years their success was 
sufificient to bring considerable encouragement. 
But, as the novelty of the new life and teaching 
wore off, the interest also slackened ; Catholic 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 219 

priests came into the country, teaching by dif- 
ferent methods from those used by the Prot- 
estants, and this tended to disturb the relations 
between the missionaries and their wards ; 
worse than all, a number of dissipated, rene- 
gade Americans wandered among the tribes, 
doing all the mischief in their power. 

At last discouragements mounted to such Action of 
a height that the American board at Boston, theAmeri- 

o can board 

re2:ardino^ the work in Oreofon as almost a closing the 
complete failure, passed a resolution to close nTssio"" 
the missions at Waiilatpu and Lapwai, retain- 
ing only the one in the north.^ News of this 
action reached Dr. Whitman in the fall of 1842. 
A meeting of the missionaries was at once 
called, and an agreement reached that the 
missions should not be given up. Moreover, 
Dr. Whitman asked and received permission 
from the assembly to return to the East and 
lay the whole matter before the board in person. 
Whitman left his station on the Walla Walla 
October 3, 1842, with a single white compan- whitman's 
ion, Mr. A. L. Lovejoy, expecting to cross the .^'^■nteTride, 
mountains before the snows of winter arrived. October to 
This he might readily have accomplished had J^^-^' ^ ^^ 
all gone well ; but on reaching Fort Hall he 
learned that the Indians w^ere likely to arrest 

^ This action was probably due to exaggerated reports of the 
difficulties in Oregon written by one or two men formerly con- 
nected with the missions. 



Whitman in 
the East 



220 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

his progress if he should continue by the direct 
road, and therefore he turned south, making the 
long detour by Taos and Bent's Fort. On this 
journey winter overtook the travelers, violent 
storms and deep snows impeded their march ; 
while the biting cold, exposure, and lack of 
proper food would have destroyed any but the 
most hardy pioneers. At last, early in Janu- 
ary, they reached Bent's Fort, where Lovejoy 
remained till the following summer, while 
Whitman pushed on to St. Louis and thence 
to Boston and Washington. 

We are fortunate in having two accounts of 
this intrepid missionary when he reached the 
Atlantic coast.^ He wore his wilderness garb — 
fur cap, buckskin trousers, and all — to the city 
of New York and into the ofhce of the great 
editor, Horace Greeley, who described him, 
referring to his clothing, as " the roughest 
man we have seen this many a day." Again, 
on board the steamboat Narragaiisett, going 
from New York to Boston, he impressed a 
traveler as one of the strangest figures that 
had "ever passed through the Sound since 
the days of steam navigation " ; yet, " that he 
was every inch a man and no common one was 

' One is Horace Greeley's editorial, in the New York Tribune 
(daily) of March 29, 1B43; the other a letter to the New York 
Spectator, published April 5, 1843. Both are reprinted in the 
Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society for June, 1903. 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 221 

clear." At Boston he succeeded in getting the 
board to withdraw its order to abandon the 
missions. He wished them to send out a few 
o[ood famiHes to settle about the stations as 
supports to the missionaries. At Washington 
he urged the Secretary of War to establish 
along the Oregon trail a line of forts and 
farming stations, which might serve as a pro- 
tection against the Indians and also furnish emi- 
grants with needed supplies. By the middle of 
May he was back at Independence, ready to take 
up the line of march with the great company 
gathering there. We have already spoken of 
his important services on the route. 

Although the Indians welcomed Whitman Decline of 
back in the fall of 1843, with every indica- f^flt^P 
tion of pleasure at his safe return, yet from 
this time the missionaries gradually lost their 
power over the surrounding peoples.^ Their 

^ Mr. Spalding, indeed, wrote in June, 1843, that "the cause 
of religion and of civilization has steadily advanced among this 
people from the beginning." He declared that at his station 
twelve Indians were members of the churcli, and more than 
fifty had been received on probation ; the school, which was 
exceptionally prosperous, had increased from one hundred to 
two hundred and thirty-four, chiefs and other great men as 
well as the children learning to read and to print. Sixty 
families had each raised over one hundred bushels of grain, 
and the herds were increasing rapidly. There is scarcely a 
doubt, however, that so far as the school was concerned, and 
probably in other respects, Lapwai was at this time the most 
prosperous of the mission stations, and this report is the most 
cheering one that we get. 



222 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

letters thenceforth contained many complaints, 
showing that conditions were becoming more 
and more disheartening. By the close of the 
year 1845 it seemed to them that the only thing 
that could save the missions was the settlement 
of Christian families in the country, as Whitman 
had advocated for several years. But such help 
failed to come, and the lonely workers in this 
great wilderness were left alone to meet the 
awful fate which was about to ingulf them. 
The crisis Bcforc the cud of the summer of 1847 many 

reached, ^£ ^j^^ Cavuscs bccamc SO surlv and insolent 

1847; causes J -' 

of hostility that Whitman seems to have thought seriously 
of abandoning Waiilatpu and removing with his 
family either to the Dalles or to the Willamette 
valley. Unfortunately this plan was too long 
delayed. When the emigrants of that year ar- 
rived, many of their children were sick with the 
measles, a disease which soon spread rapidly 
. among the Indians as well. Dr. Whitman 
treated both the whites and the Indians; but 
while the former usually recovered quickly, the 
latter, on account of their unwholesome mode 
of life, died off in alarming numbers. It is 
not surprising that this was so, but it could 
not be expected that the natives would under- 
stand the true reason for it. What they saw 
was that Whitman was saving the whites and 
letting their own people perish. Nay, was he 
not actually causing their death by administer- 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 223 

ing poison instead of the medicine he pretended 
to be giving them ? This suspicion, horrible to 
contemplate, took fast hold upon the minds of 
the Cayuses, and was the immediate cause of 
their determination to kill Dr. Whitman as 
they were accustomed to kill sorcerers in their 
own tribe, who, as they believed, sometimes 
caused deaths among them. 

The blow fell on the afternoon of the 29th Themassa- 
of November, 1847, when Dr. Whitman, his "^' Nove™- 

' ^' _ ber 29s 1S47 

wife, and seven other persons at the mission 
were put to death in the most barbarous 
manner. Five more victims followed within 
a few days ; while half a hundred women and 
children, largely emigrants who were stopping 
at the station, were held as captives in one of 
the mission houses. 

The savages supposed that by keeping con- Rescue of 
trol of these helpless ones they could save them- 
selves from the vengeance of the white settlers 
in Oregon ; for they gave out word that all cap- 
tives would be put to death at the first news of 
war from down the river. Fortunately, before 
this came, Peter Skeen Ogden of the Hudson's 
Bay Company arrived from Vancouver, pushing 
through at the utmost speed on learning of the 
massacre, to try to save the captives. It was 
no easy matter to do this ; but by exerting all 
his influence and authority, Mr„ Ogden finally 
succeeded in ransoming not alone those at 



the 
prisoners 



of war 



224 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Waiilatpu, but the people at the Spalding 
mission as well — a total of fifty-seven persons. 
All were taken down the river, finding friends 
and homes among the settlers of the Willa- 
mette valley, where they were soon joined by 
the missionaries from the northern station/ 
Declaration When the news of the massacre reached the 
Willamette valley (December 8), it produced 
the wildest alarm. No one knew how far this 
atrocity might be the result of a union among 
the up-river tribes for the purpose of destroying 
all of the white people in Oregon. They pro- 
posed, however, not to wait till the Indians 
could reach the valley, but to send a force of 
men up the river at once. So great was the 
excitement and enthusiasm that in a single day 
a company of troops was raised, equipped as 
well as possible, furnished with a flag made 
by the women of Oregon City, and hurried for- 
ward to the scene of danger. In a short time 
an entire regiment was provided, by means of 
which, in the space of a few months, the Cay- 
uses were severely punished, and peace with its 
blessings was once more restored to the Ore- 
gon colony.^ 



^ A generation after these events took place Jesse Applegate 
alluded feelingly to this service of Mr. Ogden as " an act of pure 
mercy and philanthropy, which money could neither hire nor 
reward." 

'-^ The Indians who committed the murders were afterward 
secured, tried, and executed. 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 225 

But the war was a severe drain upon the strong feei- 
people. The provisional government had no cfngresr*^ 
funds, and money had to be raised in order to 
keep men in the field. The difficulty was nobly 
met ; well-to-do settlers, merchants, and others 
loaned money, and farmers generally furnished 
supplies of grain and other food. Large quan- 
tities of goods were purchased of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, practically as a loan, although 
individual settlers gave their notes by way of 
security. It was generally expected that the 
United States government would take this 
burden of debt upon itself, this being the least 
it could do to make amends for leaving the 
people of Oregon so long defenseless. At this 
crucial time, when the colony was shrouded in 
the darkest gloom, men remembered the nu- 
merous appeals which had vainly gone up from 
this far-off valley to the national capital, and a 
feeling of bitterness against a seemingly un- 
grateful government was mingled with their 
grief and fears. Had Congress done its duty, 
so they believed, this evil would not have 
befallen them. 

In the excitement of those December days Lastme- 
the Oregon leaders prepared a ringing; memo- monaito 

* . . » o ^^ Congress 

rial to the national legislature, and started " Joe 
Meek eastward to carry it to Washington. 
" Having called upon the government so often 
in vain," they say, " we have almost despaired of 

Q 



226 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

receiving its protection ; yet we trust that our 
present situation, when fully laid before you, 
will at once satisfy your honorable body of the 
necessity of extending the strong arm of guard- 
ianship and protection over this distant, but 
beautiful portion of the United States' domain. 
Our relations with the proud and powerful 
tribes of Indians residing east of the Cascade 
Mountains, hitherto uniformly amicable and 
pacific, have recently assumed quite a different 
character. They have shouted the war whoop, 
and crimsoned their tomahawks in the blood 
of our citizens. . . . Circumstances warrant 
your memorialists in believing that many of 
the powerful tribes . . . have formed an alli- 
ance for the purpose of carrying on hostilities 
against our settlements. . . . To repel the at- 
tacks of so formidable a foe, and protect our 
families and property from violence and rapine, 
will require more strength than we possess 
... we have a right to expect your aid, and 
you are in justice bound to extend it. . . . If 
it be at all the intention of our honored parent 
to spread her guardian wings over her sons and 
daughters in Oregon, she surely will not refuse 
to do it now, when they are struggling with all 
the ills of a weak and temporary government, 
and when perils are daily thickening around 
them, and preparing to burst upon their heads. 
When the ensuin<'- summer's sun shall have 



THE OPENING OF A NEW ERA 22/ 

dispelled the snow from the mountains, we shall 
look with glowing hopes and restless anxiety 
for the coming of your laws and your arms." 

Joe Meek, accompanied by nine sturdy asso- The news 
ciates, set out from the headquarters of the ^^ ^^ ^"^' 
army at Waiilatpu on the 4th of March, 1848, 
and in just sixty-six days reached St. Joseph, 
Missouri. Six days later (May 17) he arrived 
at St. Louis, and now the dreadful story of the 
"Whitman massacre was flashed all over the 
land, producing a feeling of sympathy and 
anxiety for the Oregon people that nothing in 
their previous history had been able to excite. 
Meek went to Washington and laid his dis- 
patches before President Polk. They were at 
once sent to Congress, together with a message 
calling on that body to act, and act quickly, in 
order that troops might be hurried to the de- 
fense of Oregon before the end of the summer. 

O 

No great haste was possible, for the question 
of slavery was beginning to overshadow all else, 
and the strongest passions were aroused on this 
subject in the course of the debate on the Ore- 
gon bill. Yet so much general interest was 
felt in the safety of Oregon that the measure 
was finally passed, just before the adjournment 
of Congress, August 13, after a continuous ses- 
sion of twenty-one hours. 

President Polk signed the bill and appointed 
General Joseph Lane of hidiana governor of 



228 A HISTORY OF THE PACHIC NORTHWEST 



The terri- 
tory of 
Oregon; 
General 
Lane gov- 
ernor 



the territory of Oregon. Joe Meek was given 
the office of United States marshal in the new 

government. Gov- 
ernor Lane, Meek, 
and a number of 
others started for 
Oregon by way of 
Santa Fe and 
CaHfornia late in 
August. They 
succeeded, though 
with much diffi- 
culty, in reaching 
San Francisco, 
where the governor 
and marshal took 
ship for the Colum- 
bia. They arrived 
at Oregon City March 2, 1849, and on the fol- 
lowing day the new territorial government was 
proclaimed.^ 

1 This was the day before Polk's administration came to an 
end. General Lane acted as governor less than two years, re- 
signing in June, 1850. In 185 1 he was elected to represent the 
territory in Congress, and filled the office until 1859. when he 
took his seat as one of the United States senators from Oregon. 
In i860 he was nominated for Vice President on the ticket with 
John C. Breckenridge. He died in 1881. 




GKNI'.KAI. 



II I. AN Is 



CHAPTER XV 

THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 

For most Americans the history of the Conditions 
Pacific coast had thus far been summed up California 
in the story of Oregon. The Mexican (until 
182 1 the Spanish) territory south of the parallel 
of 42° had sometimes attracted the notice of 
public men, and once or twice produced some 
effect upon the government's plans concerning 
Oregon. But until about 1840 very little atten- 
tion was paid to this vast province, where four 
or five thousand people were living in compar- 
ative idleness, scattered about through the 
valleys and over the plains of that fair and 
sunny land. The principal occupation was 
the keeping of herds, which required little 
labor. The " Boston Ships" as the American 
traders were called, plied up and down the 
long coast line, visiting the harbors and inlets 
where they exchanged groceries and manu- 
factured goods for the cartloads of beef hides 
and bags of tallow brought down from the 
ranches. 

Sometimes sailors, attracted by the easy life Americans 
of the Californians, deserted from these vessels California 

229 



230 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

and became residents in the country. Other 
Americans came overland as hunters and 
trappers, Kke Jedediah Smith, Ewing Young, 
and the Walker party sent out by Captain 
Bonneville. Many of them remained to marry 
native women, secure grants of land, and be- 
come citizens. After a time the refjion became 
pretty well known among the class of frontiers- 
men who were beginning to go to Oregon, and 
in 1 84 1 the first emigrant train made its way 
overland, partly by the Oregon trail, to the 
Sacramento valley. Thereafter the annual 
migrations to the far West were usually 
divided, a portion branching off at Fort Hall 
to go to California, although Oregon still re- 
ceived by far the larger share. 
Captain In 1 839 Captain John A. Sutter, formerly a 

Sutter's^rLt so^'^l^'^i" '^^^ ^^"^G Swiss army, went to California 
by way of Oregon, and in 1841 he secured from 
the Mexican governor eleven square leagues 
of land in the Sacramento valley. He built a 
strong fort of adobes on the site of the present 
city of Sacramento, began raising grain and 
cattle on a large scale, and also traded with 
the Indians for furs. Sutter employed a num- 
ber of Americans upon his estate, and by 
furnishing supplies to others enabled them to 
settle in this interior section of California. 
The fort was on the main emigrant routes 
from the United States and Oregon, which 



THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 



231 



helped to make it in a few years the center of 
the most important American community in 
the country. 

The Mexican government was not strong Rumors of 
during this period even at home, while the ^"^"^ 
great distance to California from the Mexican 
capital, the difficulties of communication, and 
the scattered condition of the population made 




Sutter's Fort in 1849. 

her rule in this province so feeble as to be 
almost ridiculous. The result was numerous 
revolutions, in which the Americans usually 
took part, and such a state of political unrest 
that men accustomed to a settled and strong 
government could scarcely be blamed for wish- 
ing a change. The interest which the United 
States already had in Oregon, the continued 
emigration of her people by sea and land to 
California, the letters written back by these 



232 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

emigrants, the reports of official visitors and 
the books of far West travelers produced a 
feeling that our country must finally become 
possessed of the southern as well as the north- 
ern section of the Pacific coast. After 1836 
there was always danger of war between the 
United States and Mexico over the question 
of annexing Texas to the Union, thus increas- 
ing the feeling of uncertainty respecting Cali- 
fornia. It was well understood that in case 
of hostilities this province would doubtless be 
captured by the American fleet.^ 
The Bear By the Spring of 1 846 there were several hun- 

Hag Revolt, |^^^ Americans scattered througrh the country, 

June, 1640 o J ' 

the most numerous body of them in the vicinity 
of Sutter's Fort. Lieutenant John C. Fre- 
mont, the " Pathfinder," with his surveying 
party, had wintered in California, where he came 
into conflict with the government authorities. 
He then marched north toward Oregon, but 
turned back from Klamath Lake on receiving 
a visit from Gillespie, a secret agent of the 
United States. The settlers about the fort 
became convinced from his actions that war 
had broken out, and some of them decided that 
it would be the proper thing for them to declare 

1 In 1842 Commodore Jones, believing that war had broken 
out between the two nations, actually took possession of Monterey 
and hoisted the American flag. He gave up the place a fevir 
hours later on learning his mistake. 



THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 233 

California independent of Mexico. This they 
did at Sonoma, June 14, 1846, raising the 
famous lone star flag with the rudely painted 
figure of a bear upon it (the " Bear Flag " ). 

Now followed an armed conflict, which might The war of 
perhaps have been avoided, between the United ^""'^'^^^ 
States and the Californians. Fremont took 
a prominent part in it, as did also Commo- 
dore Stockton of the American fleet. The 
United States government sent General Kearny 
to California by way of Santa Fe, and after a 
few months of fighting the territory came defi- 
nitely into American hands. When the treaty of 
peace was signed, February 2, 1848, the con- 
quest was confirmed to us. A military gov- 
ernment had already been established, the laws 
changed somewhat in accordance with Ameri- 
can ideas, and a new system of administration 
substituted for that formerly maintained by 
Mexico. 

It was expected that these changes would The gold 
promote the prosperity of California, which '^'^"^^'^^ 
might at last hope to become a rival of Oregon 
upon the Pacific coast.^ But no one dreamed 

1 When the Bear Flag Revolt occurred, Captain Sutter (who 
was a German Swiss and never mastered the English language 
perfectly) wrote exultantly to a friend, " What for progress will 
California make now!" The manuscript letter from which this 
is quoted is in possession of Mr. P. J. Healy of San Francisco, 
who kindly permitted the writer to examine his valuable col- 
lection. 



234 ^ HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The news 

reaches 

Oregon, 

August, 

1848 



of the wonderful transformation about to take 
place. On the 24th of January, ten days before 
the treaty of peace was signed, James W. Mar- 
shall made his world-famous discovery of gold 
on the American River, some fifty miles above 
Sutter's Fort. He and Captain Sutter wished 
to keep the benefits of the find to themselves, 
but the secret escaped, as great secrets usu- 
ally do, and in a few weeks the inhabitants 
of California were hurrying north with shovel 
and pan, hoping to wash quick fortunes out of 
the sands brought down from the mysterious 
Sierras. So s^reat did the " rush " become that 
at San Francisco and other towns ordinary 
lines of business were suspended, stores, ware- 
houses, and even printing oflfices were deserted, 
vessels touching at San Francisco had to re- 
main in port because the crews escaped to 
the mines. Picks, shovels, and pans rose to 
famine prices. 

Before the summer closed news of the dis- 
covery had reached Oregon, producing an 
excitement scarcely less intense than that 
caused by the Indian war just ended. Resolu- 
tions were instantly taken, plans made, and in 
a few days a company was on its way south- 
ward. Soon a regular tide of travel, on foot, 
by pack train, and wagon, set in across the Sis- 
kiyous. Oregon lost within a single year a 
very large proportion of its male inhabitants. 



THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 235 

Some of the most prominent men passed into 
this new emigration ; for example, Peter H. 
Burnett, soon to become the first governor of 
the state of CaHfornia. When General Lane 
and Joe Meek reached San. Francisco on their 
way northward, they saw numbers of Oregon 
men, some of whom, leaving the Willamette 
valley or Puget Sound almost penniless, were 
already returning to their families with thou- 
sands of dollars in gold dust. 

The news was carried across the Rockies, The "Forty- 
and before the arrival of winter hundreds, thou- "'"^"^ ' , 

' progress 01 

sands, on the Atlantic coast were preparing for California 
the voyage to Panama, expecting to cross 
the Isthmus and take ship to San Francisco. 
Others in the interior impatiently waited till 
the grass should start in the spring, when 
twenty-five thousand persons, in an almost 
continuous caravan, moved westward to the 
valley of the Sacramento. But this was only 
the beginning. Month after month, and year 
after year, the excited multitudes pressed on to 
this new El Dorado. All were looking for the 
golden treasure ; but while most men sought it 
in the river drift, many took the surer methods 
of carrying supplies to the mines, or of cultivat- 
ing the soil in order to produce flour, bacon, 
fruit, and other necessities which during the 
early years of the gold rush l^rought such fabu- 
lous prices. Hundreds of new occupations 



236 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

were opened, and fortunes made in the most 
diverse ways. No young western community 
had ever been advertised as was Cahfornia 
during these years ; and few, even of the most 
prosperous, had grown as rapidly as she. 
San Fran- The mining camps were soon extended so as 

CISCO the ^^ embrace a lar^e portion of the territory west 

commercial 01 J 

emporium of of thc Sierras ; towns like Stockton and Sac- 
colst^"^' '^ ramento grew up as interior supply stations; 
while San Francisco, at the great harbor of 
California, rose at one bound to be the place of 
chief importance among Pacific coast seaports. 
Here was the emporium of all the trade of this 
rapidly growing population, having relations 
with the eastern coast, with Mexico, Central 
and South America, Australia, Hawaii, and in 
general all countries interested in the trade of 
the great gold-producing territory which for- 
tune had recently tossed into the lap of the 
United States. Men from the eastern cities 
employed their capital and their business skill 
in building up at San Francisco great com- 
mercial establishments, whose influence has 
been felt throughout the later course of Pacific 
coast history. They did not confine them- 
selves to California, but came northward to the 
Columbia River, to Puget Sound, and the 
smaller harbors along the Northwest Coast ; to 
the interior districts of the Oregon country, 
wherever opportunities for profitable commerce 



THE NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA 237 

were to be found. San Francisco's population 
of a few hundred in 1848 grew by i860 to 
more than 56,000, in another decade it became 
150,000, and by 1880 exceeded a quarter of a 
milHon. 

We cannot follow this wonderful movement change in 
in detail, but it is easy to see that the discovery ^f p^°S^(^^c^ 
of gold produced startling changes in the rela- coast 
tions between the northern and southern sec- '^^"^^ 
tions of the Pacific slope. When the Oregon 
bill was before Congress in the spring of 1848, 
some wished to couple with it a bill for a Cali- 
fornia and a New Mexican territory also ; but 
others declared that the " native-born " territory 
of Oregon should not be unequally yoked with 
" territories scarcely a month old, and peopled 
by Mexicans and half- Indian Californians." 
Two years after this incident California had a 
population, mainly American, of 92,000 and 
was ready for statehood, ten years later she had 
380,000, and in another decade more than half 
a million ; while the territory of Oregon, which 
in 1850 included the entire district west of the 
Rocky Mountains and north of California, had 
in that year less than 14,000 people. By 1870 
the Pacific Northwest, then divided into the 
state of Oregon and the two territories of 
Washington and Idaho, had a total popula- 
tion of only 130,000 as against California's 
560,000. 



238 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

California Thcsc facts tcU the story of how the natural 

overshadows ^.Q^^j-gg ^f ^\^q Pacific coast's development was 

the JNorth- ^ ^ 

west changed by the magic of gold. The long list 

of American explorers, traders, and mission- 
aries, whose deeds and sacrifices glorify the 
early history of the Pacific Northwest, were 
largely forgotten by a nation entranced with 
the story of the " Forty-niners." The far- 
reaching influence of Oregon as the oldest 
American territory on the Pacific coast faded 
quickly from the memories of men. The 
Oregon Trail was already deep worn through 
the sand hills along the Platte and Sweetwater, 
Bear River, and the Portneuf, by the wagons of 
the Oregon pioneers ; it was lined with the 
crumbling bones of their cattle, and marked by 
the graves of their dead ; yet instantly, after 
the passage of the thronging multitudes of '49, 
it became the " California Trail," and to this 
day most men know it by no other name. 
California, in a word, so completely over- 
shadowed the Northwest in wealth, in com- 
merce, and in population, that to the people of 
the country in general this state has seemed to 
be about all of the Pacific coast. 



CHAPTER XVI 

PROGRESS AND POLITICS, 1S49-1859 

The relations between the Northwest and California's 
California were naturally very close. Those ^f^'^o^^*^ 

-' ■' , Northwest 

Oregon men who went to the gold mines were 
seasoned pioneers, who had already partly 
conquered and civilized one great section 
of the Pacific coast. They were a valuable 
element in the new and mixed population that 
now poured into the southern territory, helping 
to bring order out of disorder, and to establish 
an effective government for the new state as 
they had already done for their own colony. 
It is of course impossible, as well as unnecessary, 
to measure California's debt to the Northwest 
during the early years of the gold rush ; but it 
was undoubtedly very great. 

On the other hand, there is much truth in NewCaiifor- 
the claim that the rapid development of Cali- "^'^^^^"^^'^ 

i J^ create a new 

fornia gave an entirely new aspect to life in the Northwest 
Northwest. The first effect of the gold dis- 
covery was to draw away one half or perhaps 
two thirds of the able-bodied men of Oregon, 
and to leave the country with insufficient labor 

239 



240 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

to cultivate the fields already opened. But 
this was only a temporary drawback. The 
mines afforded a wonderful market for every- 
thing" the northern region could produce. 
Packers visited the farms, buying up the sur- 
plus flour, meat, lard, butter, eggs, vegetables, 
and fruits. A large number of boats entered 
the Columbia, ascending to the new village of 
Portland on the Willamette, where they took on 
cargoes of provisions as rapidly as these could be 
collected from up the river. Cargoes of lumber 
were carried away from the mills already es- 
tablished, and these proving insufficient to meet 
the demand, others w^ere built and put into 
operation at various points along the Columbia. 
Farmers, merchants, laborers, manufacturers, 
speculators, in fact all classes of settlers in 
Oregon, reaped a magnificent harvest from the 
filling up of California, and the new wealth of 
gold. Debts were canceled, homes improved, 
and the conditions of life made easier and more 
pleasant than they had been in the strictly 
pioneer time ; new enterprises of all sorts were 
started in the Willamette settlement, machinery 
was imported for the use of the farmer, roads 
opened, and steamboats placed upon the rivers. 
The new territorial government, which fortu- 
nately came just at the beginning of the new 
age, was of great benefit to the people in many 
ways. Among other things it enabled them to 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 24 1 

make some provision for a system of common 
schools,^ and to secure for this region a cheaper, 
more frequent, and regular mail service. Under 
these circumstances the population increased 
much more rapidly than formerly ; in spite of 
the glittering attractions of California property 
rose in value and general prosperity prevailed. 

When the discovery of gold was first reported Prosperity 
in the autumn of 1848, there were only a few slund^*^^^*^ 
settlers on Puget Sound, most of whom were colony 
engaged in making shingles and getting out 
timber for the Hudson's Bay Company. This 
was almost their only means of securing the 
supplies needed to support their families. 
About twenty-five of the men immediately set 
out for the gold mines, leaving a very small 
remnant of population in the country. In a 
few months many of them returned with an 
abundance of money, to be used in making 
improvements. Samuel Hancock tells us that 
when he came back to Olympia in the fall of 
1849, after spending a year in the mines, 
"everything bore the impress of prosperity." 
Among other things a grist mill had been 

^ The pioneers of the Northwest showed commendable enterprise 
in the establishment of high-grade schools, the earliest of which 
was the Oregon Institute founded by the Methodist missionaries 
at Salem in 1841. It afterward grew into the Willamette Uni- 
versity. The second was Tualatin Academy, the beginning of 
Pacific University. Common schools were also maintained by 
private subscription before the public school system went into effect. 



242 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Beginnings 



on Puget 
Sound 



The dis- 
covery of 
coal 



erected, which was of great benefit to the com- 
munity. 

The settlement on Puget Sound received 
on Pu^ef"^ special benefits from the great demand for 
lumber which came from San Francisco and 
the other California towns. No portion of the 
Pacific Northwest was better fitted by nature to 
supply this need; for here the forests usually 
came down to the water's edge, while many of 
the smaller inlets, some of them excellent har- 
bors for ocean vessels, afforded the very best 
sites for sawmills. Early in the year 1849 the 
brig Orbit put into Budd's Inlet (Olympia) 
for a load of piles. This was the beginning of 
the lumber trade with San Francisco. In a 
short time mills were running near Olympia 
(Tumwater), at the mouth of the Dewamish 
(Seattle), at Steilacoom, Cape Flattery, New 
Dungeness, Port Townsend, and other places. 
With lumber selling at sixty dollars per thou- 
sand feet, as it did for a time, the business was 
immensely profitable. 

Aside from lumber the California communi- 
ties were in great need of fuel, and the people 
of San Francisco made anxious inquiries about 
the possibility of getting coal near the harbors 
of the Northwest Coast. An inferior quality 
had been found north of the Columbia before 
1850. In 185 1 Samuel Hancock began search- 
ing near Puget Sound, and with the help of the 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 243 

natives found what seemed to be an important 
deposit of this useful mineral Other discov- 
eries were made at later times on Bellingham 
Bay, near Seattle, and at other points all con- 
venient to good harbors. Some of these were 
soon worked, with the result that thousands of 
tons of coal were shipped to San Francisco 
annually. All of these things brought about a 
very prosperous condition in the little colony. 

Since the country south of the Columbia increase in 
had been settling up for a comparatively long ^°^^ ^'^^'^ 
time, the lands there had been pretty carefully 
picked over; and this fact, together with the 
commercial advantages of Puget Sound, caused 
some of the emigrants of these years to go 
northward in search of homes. The lumber 
mills gave employment, while the explorations 
in search of coal, and for other purposes, were 
bringing to light new farming lands in the 
rich valleys back from the Sound, where the 
settlers now began to take claims. But for 
several years little progress was made in agri- 
culture, flour and seed grain actually being im- 
ported from San Francisco at great expense in 
exchange for a portion of the lumber sent 
down. The census of 1850 gives mi as the 
total population north of the Columbia. Three 
years later a special enumeration showed 3965- 
In that year, for the first time, Puget Sound 
drew a considerable part of the emigration to 



244 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Agitation 
for a ter- 
ritorial 
government 



the Northwest, thirty-five wagons crossing the 
Cascades by a new road which the northern 
settlers had opened from the Yakima River to 
Olympia. 

The people about Puget Sound found them- 
selves completely separated from those on the 
Willamette, and living as it were in a world of 
their own. This was due largely to the diffi- 
culty of communication between the Columbia 
River and the Sound. The feeling was 
strengthened by the fact that all the regular 
trade of this section w^as with San Francisco. 
Since their situation rendered them independ- 
ent of the Columbia River commercially, they 
came to believe that their country should also 
have a separate government. Agitation for 
dividing the territory began in 185 1, and the 
next year matters were brought to a head. In 
September, 1852, a newspaper called the Co- 
lumbian ^ was begun at Olympia for the pur- 
pose of advocating the project, and one month 
later (October 27) a meeting was held which 
determined on choosing delegates to a conven- 
tion. This was to decide whether or not to 



1 Files of this paper, from September, 1852, to December, 1853, 
the entire period of its existence, as well as complete files of the 
Pioneer and Democrat, and the Fieget Sound Herald, were con- 
sulted in the private library of Hon. C. B. Bagley of Seattle. 
The writer also obtained from Mr. Bagley the loan of his files of 
the Washinffton Statesman, Walla Walla, which proved invalu- 
able for the study of the early history of the " Inland Empire." 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 245 

ask Congress to erect the district north and 
west of the Columbia into a territorial govern- 
ment. I Although some of the people living 
along the river, to whom Oregon City was 
more convenient than Olympia, objected to the 
plan, the proposed meeting was held on the 
25th of November, and a memorial asking for 
the change sent to General Lane who then 
represented the territory in Congress. On the 
15th of January, 1853, the Oregon legislature, 
sympathizing with the demand of the northern 
settlements, adopted a similar memorial ; but 
before this reached him Lane had introduced a 
bill for creating the territory of Columbia. It 
passed on the loth of February, 1853, with the 
name Washington substituted for Columbia^ a 
change with which the people of the new terri- 
tory were very well satisfied. General Isaac I. 
Stevens, who had been commissioned to survey 
a northern route for a Pacific railroad, was 
appointed governor. He arrived at Olympia 
on the 26th of November, 1853, and the new 
organization was put in operation.^ 

1 General Stevens was a trained soldier and engineer, a gradu- 
ate of West Point. His success in finding a practicable line 
for a railroad immediately gave him great influence v^fith the peo- 
ple of Washington, who believed thoroughly in the future of 
their section. Reserved as governor till 1857, was then elected 
delegate to Congress from the territory, remaining in that posi- 
tion till the breaking out of the Civil War, when he went to the 
field of action. He was killed while gallantly leading his divi- 



246 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Beginnings As the gold cUscovery promoted the pros- 
hisouthTm perity of the Willamette valley and Puget 
Oregon Sound, SO it also led to the planting of new 
communities in other favorable districts of the 
Northwest. The region known as southern 
Oregon contains the two important valleys of 
the Umpqua and Rogue rivers. It had al- 
ready become known to the pioneers, partly 
through explorations for a southern emigrant 
road made in 1846 under the direction of Jesse 
Applegate. A portion of the emigration of 
that and the following years came to the Wil- 
lamette over this route ; and when Oregon men 
began going to the gold mines of California, the 
country became still better known. Wagons 
and pack trains, men on foot and on horse- 
back, were continually passing back and forth ; 
so that it was not long before a few individuals, 
impressed with the beauty of the landscape, the 
excellence of the grass and water, and the op- 
portunities for farming and stock raising, began 
to think of locating claims in these valleys. 
The Jesse Applegate, who was the most noted 

valley ^^ cxplorcr of southcrn Oregon, was himself led 
to settle in Umpqua valley.^ In the spring 

sion at Chantilly. The " Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens." by Hazard 
Stevens, 2 vols., Boston, 1900, gives a full account of his services 
and much valuable matter on the history of the Northwest. 

^ He founded and named the town of Yoncalla, which l)ecame 
his home. General Lane also took a claim in this valley, near 
the town of Roseburg, and spent his declining years in retirement. 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 247 

of 1850, he with a number of others organized 
a company to take up lands and establish town 
sites. It happened that while these pioneers 
were making their way down toward the sea, 
they met a party of Californians who had 
entered the Umpqua by ship for the same 
purpose. The two companies thus accident- 
ally brought together formed a new association 
which undertook to colonize the Umpqua 
valley. Settlers and miners quickly overran 
the region. The county of Umpqua, embrac- 
ing the whole of southern Oregon, was created 
by the territorial legislature in 185 1. 

The valley of Rogue River received settlers Rogue 
about the same time, and here the influence ^^^Ihe 
of gold discoveries was strongly felt. California southern 
miners had already prospected the Sierras to 
the borders of the Oregon country; and just 
at the close of the year 1851 rich placer mines 
were discovered on Jackson Creek, a branch of 
Rogue River. A new rush began, Californians 
and Oregonians both taking part in it, so that 
in a very short time the village of Jacksonville 
had a population of several hundred, and a 
number of other mining centers were estab- 
lished in the same neighborhood. Settlers 
pushed in at the same time to take up the 
fertile lands along the Rogue River and its 
branches. While these things were going for- 
ward in the upper portions of the valleys of 



248 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Indian out- 
breaks; 
the Rogue 
River War 



southern Oregon, settlements were also begun 
near the mouths of the rivers, especially at Port 
Orford and about Coos Bay. The discovery of 
coal near Coos Bay gave it a large trade with 
San Francisco. The various centers of popula- 
tion were connected with one another by means 
of mountain roads or trails ; the interest in gold 
mining stimulated emigration, and a population 
of several thousand people was soon to be found 
within this territory, which at the beginning of 
the California gold rush was an absolute wilder- 
ness, occupied by native barbarians. 

When the early missionaries and settlers 
came to Oregon they found the Indians under 
the control of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company, 
whose officers were able to secure for the whites 
such lands and other privileges as the Indians 
had to bestow. The company was very suc- 
cessful in preventing conflicts between the two 
races. Only rarely were the settlers molested 
by the natives during these years, the most 
notable exception being the Whitman massacre 
in 1847. When the United States took con- 
trol, in 1849, the situation had become more 
difficult to handle. Settlers were by this time 
becoming numerous; the Indians had begun to 
fear for the safety of their lands, and they were 
not yet convinced of the national government's 
power. Soon afterward troubles began, es- 
pecially in the newly occupied territory of 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 249 

southern Ores^on, where miners and travelers 
were occasionally murdered, and settlers driven 
from their lands. In some cases, it must be 
confessed, the whites were to blame as well as 
the red men. But the time soon came when the 
tribes of southern Oregon were ready to go on 
the war path, and then hundreds of innocent 
persons suffered the untold horrors which have 
always marked such savage outbreaks. Men 
were shot down on the highway or in the field ; 
at dead of night unprotected families were be- 
sieged in their cabins, the men killed outright, 
the women and children enslaved, and homes 
burned to the ground; sometimes whole settle- 
ments were either massacred or driven away. 
This war, usually called, from the most terrible 
of the tribes concerned in it, the Rogue River 
War, began in 185 1. It lasted, with some in- 
termissions, till 1856, when the Indians being 
removed to reservations the settlers were at 
last secure in the possession of their homes.^ 

Southern Oregon was not the only section other 
of the Northwest to suffer from the uprising ^^^i^^^^-^^ 
of the natives during this period. On Puget 
Sound, too, the Indians began to murder white 
men as early as 1850, though no general out- 
break occurred until several years later. In 

^ In this war General Lane performed most important services 
for Oregon, both as warrior and peacemaker. The Indians stood 
in great awe of him. 



250 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

1 854- 1 855 General Stevens, as superintendent 
of Indian affairs, made treaties with nearly all 
of the tribes both in eastern and western 
Washington, and it was supposed that these 
would put an end to all conflict between the 
two races. But as a matter of fact the natives, 
seeing the country filling up with white people, 
were about ready for a general war in defense 
of what they considered to be their own coun- 
try. The situation here was not different from 
that which brought on the great Indian wars 
in other sections of the United States. Just 
as New England had its King Philip's War, 
and the middle West its struggles with Tecum- 
seh and Black Hawk, so the people of the Pacific 
Northwest, when settlement threatened to crowd 
the Indians off their lands, were forced to meet 
great combinations of native tribes under Chief 
John, Leschi, Kamiakin, and others. Except 
in southern Oregon, these wars came mainly 
in the years 1855-1858. They included many 
harrowing incidents, like the murder of the 
settlers in White River valley near Puget 
Sound, the daring attack upon the little village 
of Seattle in the spring of 1856, the slaughter 
of the emisfrants on the Malheur River, and 
massacres at the Cascades. The United States 
government maintained troops at various places 
throughout the Northwest, and in some cases 
these rendered most effective service during 



PROGRESS AND POLITICS 251 

the Indian war; but their numbers were too 
small to meet the great emergency, while diffi- 
culties arose between the territorial officers 
and the military commanders that caused the 
burden of the war to fall mainly upon the 
people themselves. Volunteer companies were 
called into the field, who with some severe 
fighting and much attendant hardship were 
able to bring this distressing period to a 
close. The Indians here as elsewhere found 
it necessary to accept the bounty of Congress 
in the shape of a reservation, with pay for the 
lands which they gave up to the government. 
Most of the treaties went into effect in 1859. 

Several years prior to the close of the Indian The Oregon 
wars, the question of statehood for Oreoon be- '=°"^^^^^" 

i _ ^ "^ ^ tional con- 

gan to be seriously discussed, and in 1856 a bill vention, 
for admittinor the territory into the Union was ^"s*^^' ^° 

o J September, 

introduced in Congress by General Lane. 1857 
Though this failed, another bill passed the 
House at the next session, authorizing the 
people to frame a state constitution. It did 
not pass the Senate, but the legislature of Ore- 
gon Territory had already provided for submit- 
ting the question of holding a convention to 
the voters at the June (1857) election. It was 
carried by a large majority, delegates were 
chosen from the several counties, and on the 
third Monday in August the convention met 
in the town of Salem. September 18 a state 



252 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

constitution was adopted, which being submitted 
to the people was ratified by a vote of 7195 in 
favor to 3195 against. The state government 
went into operation in July, 1858, although Ore- 
gon was not formally admitted to the Union till 
the 14th of February, 1859/ 

^ The population of Oregon in i860 was 52,465, and of Wash- 
ington Territory, 11,594. 




General Isaac Ingali.s Stevens. 



CHAPTER XVII 

jTHE INLAND EMPIRE 

The Indian wars of the Pacific Northwest, Extent and 
like those of New England, western New York, character of 

.... the Inland 

and various sections of the Mississippi valley, Empire 
were followed by a period in which population 
spread rapidly over previously unoccupied terri- 
tory. Thus far settlement had been practically 
confined to the region between the Cascade 
Mountains and the Pacific, including the Willa- 
mette valley, Puget Sound, the Cowlitz and 
Columbia districts, the valleys of southern 
Oregon, and a few points near the seacoast. 
This was only a small part of the Oregon coun- 
try, the eastern section, from the Cascades to 
the Rockies, containing more than three times 
as large an area. Above the point where the 
Columbia breaks through the Cascades, one 
hundred and ninety miles from the sea, it re- 
ceives branches from the north whose sources 
lie far beyond the American boundary of 49°, 
others from the south rising below the 4 2d par- 
allel, and still others from every part of the west 
slope of the Rockies between these two bound- 
ary lines. They drain an American territory 

253 



254 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

embracing about two hundred thousand square 
miles, nearly one fourth larger than the com- 
bined areas of the New England states, New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A por- 
tion of it is occupied by the forested ranges of 
the Bitter Root and Blue mountains ; but in 
general it is a region of great plains, relieved by 
wooded valleys and gently sloping hills. The 
climate, soil, and productions, all vary greatly 
from those of western Oregon, and the natives 
were superior to the western Indians in intellect 
as well as in strength, energy, and warlike valon 
Its agri- Owing to the light rainfall over the greater 

*^"''"f^iV portion of the Inland Empire, some early travel- 

possibilities 1 1 ' ^ 

begin to be ers prououuccd the entire region unfit to be 
the home of civilized man. But the mission- 
aries proved that the natural grasses afforded 
excellent pasturage for cattle and sheep,^ and 
that the soil in many places would produce 
bounteous crops of grain and vegetables even 
without irrigation ; while with an artificial 
supply of water suiprising results could be 
obtained. Several of the valleys, like Walla 
Walla and the Grand Ronde, which lay in the 
path of the emigrants to Oregon, attracted the 
attention of the pioneers at an early time by 

^ Dr. Whitman wrote in October, 1847, just before his death : 
" The interior of Oregon is unrivaled by any country for the 
grazing of stock, of which sheep is the best. This interior will 
now be soutrht after." 



THE INLAND EMPIRE 255 

the evident fertility of their lands ; and as early 
as 1847 it seemed certain that the first of these 
would soon be occupied by farmers. But the 
Whitman massacre of that year destroyed these 
prospects, and another decade was to pass away 
before plans of settlement could be resumed. 
In the meantime other sections of the Inland 
Empire were beginning to receive attention on 
account of the rich farming lands they were 
supposed to contain. 

When General Stevens reached Olympia, in General 
November, 1853, after completing the survey of ofj^g^ra-^ 
the northern railroad route, he declared to the tions 
people of Puget Sound that there were several 
great stretches of territory in eastern Washing- 
ton which invited settlement. " I can speak 
advisedly," he says, " of the beautiful St. Mary's 
valley just west of the Rocky Mountains and 
stretchincj across the whole breadth of the terri- 
tory; of the plain fifty miles wide bordering 
the south bank of the Spokane River; of the 
valley extending from Spokane River to Col- 
ville ; of the, Coeur d' Alene Prairie of six hun- 
dred square miles ; the Walla Walla valley. 
The Nez Perce country is said to be rich as 
well as the country bordering on the Yakima 
River." 

His treaties with the native tribes soon after- The Indian 
ward were expected to throw some of these ^J^nt^ settle- 
tracts open, and other treaties made about the ment 



256 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

same time with the Indians of eastern Oregon 
looked to the settlement of portions of that 
countr)^ But when the Indians went on the 
war path in 1855 this entire region, except a 
small district protected by the military post at 
the Dalles, was once more closed to the peace- 
ful tiller of the soil. The prairies and open 
river valleys, instead of being dotted over with 
settlers' cabins or the white-sheeted wagons of 




CCEUR D'ALENE, 1853. 



emigrants, were traversed in all directions by 
long files of marching men, and troops of gal- 
lant cavalry. Yet this only served to make the 
whole country more familiar to the people of 
western Oregon and Washington, and to in- 
crease the desire to settle there as soon as the 
Indian troubles should be over. 



THE INLAND EMPIRE 257 

By this time (1859) there was an additional Gold hunt- 
motive for emigration to the Inland Empire, ^^e Cascades 
Even before the Indian war there had been 
more or less prospecting for gold in the eastern 
country, and in 1855 discoveries were made at 
Colville, though at that time little could be done 
with them. In the years 185 7-1 858 occurred 
a rush to Eraser River in British Columbia. 
Eor a time it was supposed this region would 
prove very rich ; but soon disappointments 
crowded upon the Americans who had gone 
there, and a great outpouring took place. The 
men who left these mines spread over and 
prospected large sections of the eastern country, 
with results only less wonderful than those ob- 
tained in California ten years earlier. Rich 
gold districts were opened near Colville ; on the 
Clearwater, Salmon River, Boise River, John 
Day's River, Burnt River, Powder River; the 
Owyhee, Kootenai, Deer Lodge, Beaverhead; 
the Prickly Pear, and other places. Californians 
streamed northward as Oregonians had gone 
south in '48 and '49. Mining camps grew in 
a few months to towns of several thousand 
people, and sometimes disappeared quite as 
rapidly, when richer diggings were opened 
elsewhere, or water for gold washing failed. 
By rapid stages the prospectors passed up the 
several branches of the Columbia, until they 
stood once more upon the summit of the 



258 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Carrying 
supplies to 
the mining 
camps 



Rockies, this time coming from the west. At 
South Pass, Helena, and many other camps, 
they met and mingled with the crowds of gold 
seekers arriving from the East. These were 
" tenderfeet " to the rugged men who had spent 
twelve or fifteen years in the mining districts 
of California, British Columbia, eastern Ore- 
gon, Washington, and Idaho, and who rather 
gloried in the name "yonder siders," applied to 
them by the other class. 

When the miners turned toward the north- 
east the pack trains headed in the same direc- 




Pack Train on Mountain Trail. 

tion, carrying the eager gold seekers with their 
outfits, and following from camp to camp with 
regular supplies of bacon and flour, picks, 
shovels, pans, quicksilver, and other neces- 
sities of the business. From ten to fifty horses 



THE INLAND EMPIRE 259 

or mules usually made up the train, though 
sometimes more than one hundred animals were 
employed. They were loaded with packs vary- 
ing from two hundred to four hundred pounds. 
At first many of these trains set out from the 
Willamette valley directly, crossing the Cascade 
Mountains ; but in a very short time (as early 
as 1862) the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- 
pany, with headquarters at Portland, made ar- 
rangements for carrying goods up the river 
as far as old Fort Walla Walla, then as now 
called Wallula. Intermediate points were The 
Dalles and Umatilla Landing. 

At Walla Walla, located a few miles above waiiaWaib 
the site of the Whitman mission, a military ^sr^^^<i'^- 

■' tributing 

post had been established in 1S56, which soon center 
drew about it a small settlement. This place 
now became the distributing center for a min- 
ing region embracing nearly the whole of the 
eastern country. The Dalles sent goods up 
the John "Day valley ; Umtilla carried to Pow- 
der River, Owyhee, Boise Basin, and a few 
other places in eastern Oregon and southern 
Idaho ; but Walla Walla sent its pack trains 
not only to most of these camps, but to Col- 
ville, Kootenai, the Salmon and the Clearwater, 
the Prickly Pear and the upper Missouri. The 
trails radiated in all directions from this little 
town, and during the packing season long lines 
of horses and mules were ever coming and 



26o A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

going. In winter the feeding yards of the 
valley were filled with poor, worn creatures, 
whose scarred backs and ugly girth marks 
proved the class to which they belonged.^ The 
packers themselves were an important social 
element in Walla Walla and Wallula, sometimes 
giving grand balls which the entire community 
would attend. Many of them were enterpris- 
ing young men who have since made themselves 
felt in business and professional life. 
The The Columbia River, though affording with 

Montana j^^ brauchcs ovcr two thousand miles of navi- 

tratle by 

steamboat gablc watcr, is divided into sections by frequent 
wagon j^g^^yj-g^l obstructions like the Cascades, Dalles, 
Great Falls, and Priest's Rapids. As the in- 
terior trade grew, the navigation company 
built boats on section after section, until it 
became possible to go from Portland to Lake 
Pend d'Oreille on the North Fork almost wholly 
by water. This development resulted in part 
from the opening of trade with the Rocky 
Mountain country. Active mining operations 
began in what is now Montana, but then 
eastern Washington and western Dakota, in 
1862. The earliest diggings were located west 

' Tlie number of pack animals maintained in tlie valley is 
almost incredible. In the winter of 1866-1867 between five luin- 
dred and six hundred were kept within seven miles of Wallula. 
During ten days in the month of July, 1869, when times were 
dull, trains aggregating' five hundred and fifty-nine packs were 
fitted out at Walla Walla. 



THE INLAND EMPIRE 261 

of the Rockies, but soon rich discoveries were 
made east of the mountains also. Packers 
from Walla Walla crossed over at once, carry- 
ing hundreds of tons of supplies at very great 
expense. A military road, from Fort Benton 
on the upper Missouri to Walla Walla, had been 
constructed between the years 1859 and 1862, 
under the direction of Captain John Mullan. 
It was always passable for pack trains, but soon 



.VJf 




Fort Benton, 1853. 

fell into such a state of disrepair that loaded 
wagons could not safely pass over it. Soon 
the demand became loud for the reopening 
of this highway. Work was done upon it at 
various times, with the result that many wagons, 
drawn by six or eight pairs of mules, carried 
flour and bacon, produced in the Willamette 



262 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

valley, from the head of navigation on the 
Columbia to Helena on the Missouri, a dis- 
tance of only about six hundred miles. 
Competition Pacific coast commodities now came into 
EastTmi competition with those brought from St. Louis 
West; rapid in many little steamboats; and thus the predic- 
Po°rtiand tlous of Mr. Floyd were in away fulfilled: a 
commercial route had been opened across the 
continent by steamboat and zuagou. The city 
of Portland, as the western emporium of this 
trade with the Inland Empire and Montana, 
entered upon a period of rapid and substantial 
growth, which has continued almost unbroken 
to the present time. 
Agriculture Froui the beginning of this migration toward 
111 the Walla |-|^g interior, the most favorable portions of the 

\\ alia ^ 

valley couutry wcrc eagerly sought after by those wish- 

ing to engage in agriculture or stock raising. 
The rapid progress of mining stimulated this 
movement, so that in spite of the long delay 
in beQ:inninor the settlement of the Inland Em- 
pire, a farming population finally spread over 
its fertile valleys and plains much more rapidly 
than would have been the case if no gold rush 
had occurred. The first district to be occupied 
was the Walla Walla valley, where the presence 
of the United States military post afforded a 
home market for products, and where the lands 
were not only fertile but easily tilled, compara- 
tively well watered, and conveniently near to 




263 



THE INLAND EMPIRE 265 

the Columbia River and the lower settlements. 
It will be remembered that this valley was about 
to be occupied in 1847, when the Whitman mas- 
sacre suddenly drove all whites west of the Cas- 
cades. A few pioneers held claims there at the 
outbreak of the later Indian war, and these had 
to be abandoned also. When the treaties were 
completed in 1859, many persons were ready to 
take up lands in the country, while the emi- 
gration of that year furnished several hundred 
settlers.^ In i860 Walla Walla County had 1300 
white people, and within the next six years the 
government surveyed about 750,000 acres of 
land in the valley, most of which was imme- 
diately taken up for agricultural purposes. The 
chief crop was wheat, which yielded at the rate 
of forty to fifty bushels, and was turned into 
flour for export to the numerous mining camps 
supplied from this center. In 1865 the amount 
thus sent out was 7000 barrels. At the same 
time other products, like hay, onions, potatoes, 
and wool, were shipped down the river. In 
1870 Walla Walla County had 5174 inhabit- 
ants. By that time the valley was fairly well 
settled, containing many beautiful farms, with 
comfortable and even handsome dwellings, sur- 

^ The Olympia Pioneer a)id Democrat of September 30, 1859, 
says that eight hundred emigrants had settled in the Walla Walla 
valley, while twenty families had taken claims on the Yakima, and 
thirty on the Klickitat and through the country from the Dalles 
to Fort Simcoe (on the Yakima). 



266 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTIIWEST 



Settlement 
of the 
Grand 
Ronde 
valley 



rounded by gardens, fruit orchards, and orna- 
mental trees. 

For many years the emigrants to Oregon had 
passed with regret the beautiful valley of the 
Grand Ronde, nestled so peacefully among 
the Blue Mountains. After all danger from 
the natives had been removed, and the Walla 
Walla country partly filled up, settlers began 
to take claims in this attractive region, notwith- 
standing its distance from the sea. A few were 
left there by the emigration of 1861, but it was 
the great company of 1S62 which finally occu- 
pied the country. About two thousand, so the 
newspapers of the time declare, remained in 
the valley, while the rest, some eight thousand, 
went down the Columbia. The first winter 
was one of great privations; but the next sum- 
mer a crop was raised on the newly broken 
lands, which furnished an abundance of provi- 
sions. La Grande was the principal town, and 
soon became the county seat of Union County, 
which included the Grand Ronde within its 
boundaries. From the first it was a place of 
considerable importance, being the supply cen- 
ter for the valley until other towns, like Union, 
Summerville, and Oro Dell, divided the territory 
with her. A wagon road built in 1863 con- 
nected the Grand Ronde valley with Walla 
Walla for trading purposes, while other roads 
and trails made it i)ossiblc for this upper setUe- 








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1. 

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UJ 

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(.0 c^ 


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THE INLAND EMPIRE 269 

ment to send its products to the mines of Boise 
valley, Owyhee, and other places. The abun- 
dance of timber on the slopes of the Blue Moun- 
tains, and the fine water power of the mountain 
streams, promoted the building of sawmills, of 
which there were four in 1864. A description 
of the valley, written in the spring of 1868, in- 
dicates that excellent progress had been made 
in the first five years after settlement began. 
" The waste prairie has changed to fenced and 
cultivated farms, and in all directions the handi- 
work of intelligence and industry is visible. 
Comfortable houses and outhouses have been 
built, orchards planted ; from the poor emigrant 
has sprung the well-to-do farmer." County roads 
crossed the valley in all directions, while two 
good toll roads had been built through it. The 
population of Union County in 1870 was 2552. 

These two illustrations of the Walla Walla other agri- 
and Grand Ronde valleys are sufficient to ^'^H'''^^^ 

•' settlements 

show how population spread over the fine farm- 
ing districts of the Inland Empire during the 
years immediately following the gold rush to 
this region. Many other districts had a simi- 
lar history. Boise valley. Powder River, the 
Clearwater and Spokane, the high valleys of 
western Montana, — all had their farming com- 
munities, producing such supplies as the min- 
ing districts could use. The Yakima valley 
east of the Columbia was situated much like 



270 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

tlie Walla Walla, and was settled about the 
same time. By 1870 the amount of produce 
seeking a market from the upper Columbia was 
already larger than the demand to be supplied 
in that country, although only a small fraction 
of the tillable lands had as yet been taken up. 
The people needed better means of transporta- 
tion, in order that they might ship their wheat 
and flour down the river to a larger and more 
stable market. The entire inland country 
waited impatiently for railroads to connect its 
scattered communities, and to afford the much- 
desired outlet to the sea.^ 

^ A short line of railroad, from Walla Walla to Walliila, was 
first projected as early as 1862; but it was not until 1S68 that 
active work was begun upon it. The road was completed in 
1874, largely through the energy and financial enterprise of 
Dr. D. S. Baker. It was the first railroad in the territory of 
Washington. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 

The Inland Empire was not alone in de- TheNorth- 
mandino: railroad facilities at this time. The T^^' , 

'-' _ demands 

entire Pacific Northwest was as yet altogether railways 
lacking in this important means of develop- 
ment, and by 1870 the people of that section 
were everywhere insisting that railways be built. 
Many years earlier, when the Oregon question 
was still unsettled, and when emigration to the 
Columbia by means of wagons and ox teams 
had but just begun, several schemes were 
brought forward for the establishment of a 
transcontinental line to extend to some point 
on the lower Columbia, or to Puget Sound. 
One such project was presented to the public 
in 1 845- 1 846 by Asa Whitney. He proposed 
to build the road on condition that the United 
States government grant to his company a belt 
of land sixty miles wide, stretching from Lake 
Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. Another 
scheme was to make the road a national one, 
the funds for construction to come from the 
sale of lands along the line. This was advo- 
cated by Mr. George Wilkes, of New York, 

271 



272 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Pacific 
railway 
surveys, 
1853-1857 



The first 

Pacific 

railway 

completed, 

1869 



who in 1S45 wrote a book on the subject, 
petitioned Congress, and asked the support of 
state and territorial legislatures in favor of his 
project. 

A few years later the rush to California gave 
rise to plans for a road to San Francisco Bay. 
Thomas H. Benton was one of the earliest 
advocates of this line. In 1853 surveys were 
begun by the national government along three 
different routes — one to cross the Rockies by 
way of South Pass, one at a point south of that 
place, and another far to the north, near the 
head waters of the Missouri. When General 
Stevens surveyed the last-named route, he pro- 
nounced it by far the most feasible of all, and 
the people of the Northwest began to think 
that the first transcontinental railway might 
be built through their section, notwithstand- 
ing California's greater wealth and population. 
But the times were unfavorable for railroad 
building, because of the great struggle be- 
tween the North and South over the ques- 
tion of slavery, which occupied the attention 
of the whole country and finally led to the 
Civil War. 

While this conflict was raging, however, the 
government made provision (1862) for the first 
of the transcontinental railways by chartering 
the Union Pacific Company to build westward 
from the Missouri, and the Central Pacific to 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 273 

build from the Pacific coast eastward. The 
rapid development of California between the 
years 1849 and 1S60 made San Francisco the 
natural terminus rather than either of the north- 
ern ports so much discussed twenty years 
earlier/ The central route was chosen because 
this was the most direct line to northern Cali- 
fornia. The road was to cross the Rockies at 
South Pass, follow the Humboldt River, and 
enter the Sacramento valley by the old Cali- 
fornia Trail. The work of construction was 
soon begun at both ends, and pushed forward 
as rapidly as possible. Great numbers of Chi- 
nese laborers, who had begun to come to Cali- 
fornia shortly after the gold discovery, were 
employed on the western division. Finally, on 
the loth of May, 1869, the two sections were 
brought together at Promontory Point, fifty 
miles west of Ogden, Utah, where the cere- 
mony of driving the golden spike completed 
the gigantic undertaking. 

This event marks an era in the history of iheraii- 
the Pacific coast. That vast region, once so "^^^l ^^^^ ^ ^ 
widely separated from the remainder of the 
country, was now brought into close touch with 
the other sections, and began to share fully in 

^ Sacramento, at the head of navigation on the Sacramento 
River, was called the terminus of this road ; but the line was at 
once extended to San Francisco, which became the terminus in 
fact. 



274 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



The North- 
west still 
unprovided 
with rail- 
ways 



the life of the nation as a whole. The journey 
from the east coast to San Francisco by way 
of Panama had required three and a half weeks ; 
it was very expensive and extremely unpleasant. 
By the overland stage the trip was still more 
costly and difficult. But at last, with the com- 
pletion of the railroad, the Mississippi valley 
had been brought within a week's journey of 
the Pacific ; travel to the far West was cheap 
and pleasant ; mails became frequent and regu- 
lar; many varieties of western products began 
to be sent east in exchange for manufactured 
goods. Above all, a new movement of emigra- 
tion set in to the Pacific coast which resulted 
in planting many of the most delightful farming 
and fruit-raising sections of California, and, as 
we shall see, brought about important changes 
in the Northwest as well. 

Yet, in spite of the indirect benefits which 
it brought to the people of the Northwest, the 
Central Railway was not at all sufficient for 
their needs. It barely touched the Oregon 
territory at the southeast corner, without actu- 
ally reaching any part of the settled area. In 
order to make it of great use to this section, 
other roads would have to be built through the 
Northwest connecting with the Central. The 
routes for such branch lines were clearly 
marked out by nature. One was the old emi- 
grant road from the Columbia to Fort Hall, 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 2/5 

along which Wilkes had proposed to carry his 
national railroad in 1845; the other was the 
wagon route which had been opened from the 
Columbia by way of the Willamette, southern 
Oregon, and the Siskiyou Mountains to the 
Sacramento valley. 

Several years before the Central Railway The Oregon 
was completed, California parties began survey- ^mia nail- 
ing: this line to the Columbia; and although way, 1868- 

1887 
nothing came of it at the time, other schemes 

and surveys were set on foot which finally led 
to railroad construction in Oregon. In April, 
1868, ground was broken at Portland for two 
roads, one to run on the east side, the other 
on the west side, of the Willamette River. 
Five years later the East Side Railroad 
was completed to Roseburg, in the Umpqua 
valley, thus bringing the southern Oregon 
country into connection with the Willamette 
and the Columbia. From this point the pro- 
cess of construction was very slow, the south- 
ern portion being finally completed in 1887 to 
connect with the Central Pacific. 

Meantime, in 1874, Mr. Henry Villard be- Henry 
came interested in this line and in the railroad tj^'g n'^orthem 
development of the Pacific Northwest generally, railways 
His first grand enterprise was the opening of 
railway transportation along the Columbia, on 
the south bank, connecting Portland with The 
Dalles, the Walla Walla country, and eastern 



2/6 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

Oregon. To bring this about he organized, 
with the enterprising Portland men who con- 
trolled the navigation of the Columbia, the 
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. 
The line was first built to Baker City, in the 




HKNRV \'lf.I,AKI). 

Powder River valley, and later extended to 
meet the Union Pacific at Granger, Wyoming, 
running practically along the old emigrant trail 
up the Lewis River valley. Before this plan 
could be fully carried out, Mr. Villard also 
secured control of the Northern Pacific, which 
had been in process of building from Duluth 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 



277 



at the western extremity of Lake Superior for 
several years. The union of all these interests 
under his management gave a mighty impulse 
to railroad development, such as the country 
had never before seen. Construction was 
hurried forward at utmost speed both from the 
east and from the 
west, and on the 8th 
of September, 1883 
(in western Montana), 
the last spike was 
driven by Mr. Villard 
in the presence of a 
throng of visitors 
from both coasts, and 
from nearly every 
country of the Old 
World.^ One of the 
orators on this occa- 
sion was Senator J. 
W. Nesmith, of Ore- 
gon, who as a young 
man had crossed the plains in the great wagon 
train of 1843. The early settlers of the North- 
west had spent the best years of their lives 

1 "The Memoirs of Henry Villard," 2 vols., Boston, 1904, con- 
tains a very interesting sketch of the railroad history of the 
Northwest to the time of completing the Northern Pacific. The 
earliest railways in Oregon were portage roads around the ob- 
structions in the Columbia River and were owned by the Naviga- 
tion Company at the time Villard took control. 




James Willis NESMrrH. 



2/8 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



Later rail- 
road build- 
ing 



Distribution 
of popu- 
lation about 
1870 



under pioneer conditions ; but fortunately many 
of them lived to see the dawning of the new 
day made possible by their labors and sacrifices. 

Railroad building did not cease with the 
year 1883, but has been almost continuous from 
that time to the present. The main line of the 
Northern Pacific, the Columbia and Lewis 
River road, the new Great Northern line to 
the Sound, the connection northward with the 
Canadian Pacific and southward with the Cen- 
tral Pacific, form the outlines of a system which 
has gradually been extended, by means of 
branches, into many new productive regions of 
the Northwest. The results, while marvelous 
in themselves, are only such as had long been 
foretold by those familiar with the resources of 
the Northwest, and with the effects produced 
by railroads in other parts of the United States. 
This becomes plain when we compare the slow 
progress of the Northwest during the early 
period with the rapid development which has 
taken place in the past thirty-four years, and 
especially in the past twenty-one years, since 
the completion of the Northern Pacific. 

In 1870, when this great movement was just 
beginning, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho had 
a combined population of 130,000, of which 
91,000 belonged to Oregon and only 24,000 to 
her northern neighbor. Almost exactly one 
half (64,200) of the total population of the North- 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 279 

west was still living in the Willamette valley, 
which even without railroads always had an 
outlet to a seaport market. The other half was 
widely distributed, in southern and eastern 
Oregon, along the coast and the Columbia River 
in both Oregon and Washington, and through 
the numerous mining camps of Idaho/ The 
metropolis of the Northwest was Portland, 
which boasted 8293 inhabitants — an increase 
since the census of i860 of 5425. 

The great valley of western Oregon was in The wii- 
1870 the only district of this entire region v^aUeyand 
that was fully settled by an agricultural popu- southern 
lation ; and even here, while the lands were ^^^°^ 
nearly all occupied, large portions of them 
remained untilled. The grain raised on the 
farms was shipped down the river to Portland 
in steamboats, and oreat herds of cattle were 
driven across the mountains to supply the min- 
ing camps as far east as Montana, and to stock 
the ranches now beginning to be established 
in many portions of the Inland Empire. The 
towns of the valley, aside from Portland, were 
all mere villages, centers of an agricultural 
trade. Southern Oregon, where farming, stock 

^ Southern Oregon had about 12,000 people, eastern Oregon 
10,500, the coast and Columbia River districts 4250. The coun- 
ties bordering on the Sound had one half of the 24,000 people in 
Washington, while the region east of the Cascades had 7000 of 
the remainder. Idaho contained 15,000 people (lacking one), 
scattered through a score or more of mining camps. 



28o A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

raising, and mining were all carried on together, 
was enjoying a fair degree of prosperity; but 
here also, as on the upper Columbia, no great 
development in agriculture was possible with- 
out railroads to open up a wider market for 
•the products of the soil. The Coos Bay 
district had already become famous for its coal, 
and in 1874 sent 45,000 tons to San Francisco. 
Lumbering Pugct Souud was acquiriug a world-wide 
Sound'-'^ reputation for its manufactories of lumber, 
social con- Soou after the opening of the California market, 
capitalists from the East and from San Fran- 
cisco began here the establishment of those 
enormous lumbering plants which have been 
the wonder of so many visitors to the Pacific 
coast. The small water-power mills of the 
pioneering tinie sank into insignificance or 
ceased to exist ; while monster steam mills, 
planted at a few of the most favorable points, 
practically monopolized the business. Each 
of the great sawmills supported a settlement, 
made up at first almost entirely of the company's 
employes. After a while, with the occupation 
of the farming lands in their vicinity, some of 
these grew into important market and shipping 
points. But the towns of western Wash- 
ington were for a long time behind Walla 
Walla both in wealth and in population. In 
1870 Olympia, the largest of them, had but 
1200 people, while Seattle had iioo, and 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 281 

Tacoma j^y. As late as twenty years ago 
Seattle had scarcely outgrown the conditions 
of a village. There was some talk of connect- 
ing this region by rail with Oregon on the 
south, and with the Inland Empire on the 
east. But nothing had as yet been done, and 
the Sound country was almost completely shut 
off from all other sections of the Northwest. 
Social conditions had been very unsatisfactory 
in the little lumbering communities, because 
there were so many single men without homes, 
and but few families. This difficulty was keenly 
felt, and very unusual efforts were made to over- 
come it. In 1866 a shipload of young women 
was brought to Seattle from the East. This led 
to the planting of many new homes, promoted 
farm life, and brought about a great improve- 
ment in the character of the settlement. Puget 
Sound and the entire Northwest owe a debt 
of gratitude to these excellent women, many 
of whom, fortunately, are still living to enjoy 
the prosperity which their coming to this far- 
off coast did so much to create.^ 

Such, briefly, was the situation of the North- General con- 
west at the be^innino- of the railroad age. It S''""°^;^^ 

& ^ «^ Northwest 

was a region containing a score or more of dis- in 1870 
tinct settlements, most of which had little in 

1 " They have proved a blessing to every community from the 
Cowlitz north to the boundary line." C. B. Bagley in Quarterly 
of the Oregon Historical Society, March, 1904. 



282 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

common with any of the others. Each went 
its own way, producing what it could, selhng 
what it might, in the mines, in San Francisco, 
and in Portland. Because there was little 
intercourse between the sections, there was a 
good deal of jealousy and ill will. Politically 
the Northwest was now divided into three 
parts, Idaho having been set off as a separate 
territory in 1S63; but the lack of unity within 
the separate divisions made possible numerous 
schemes for changes in boundaries, the creation 
of new territories, and so on. At one time 
there was a plan to unite the Willamette valley 
and Puget Sound into one state, making 
another of the entire inland country; again 
it was proposed to annex the Walla W^alla 
country to Oregon ; to unite northeastern 
Washington with northern Idaho, and make a 
separate state of this ; to attach southeastern 
Washington to southern Idaho and eastern 
Oregon. 
Railroad The railroads soon produced a great trans- 

buiiding formation in almost every respect. The men 

attracts ■' ^ 

emigration who wcrc rcsponsiblc for the construction of 
these lines were especially anxious to attract 
emigrants to the Northwest, in order to de- 
velop its great resources and thus create busi- 
ness for the roads. Emigration bureaus were 
formed in cities of the Atlantic coast; pam- 
phlets describing the advantages of the country 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 283 

were distributed broadcast ; and northwestern 
farm lands were widely advertised in the news- 
papers. As a result the population of this 
region began to increase with great rapidity as 
compared with the period prior to 1870. As 
already stated, the total for that year was 1 30,000. 
In the ten years from 1870 to 1880 there was an 
addition of 152,500; in the next decade 465,000; 
while from 1890 to 1900 the gain was 330,000. 
It is interesting to note that, while California 
was far in advance of the Northwest when the 
period began, and continued to lead for another 
ten years, her increase since 1880 has been 
very much less. From 1870 to 1880 she re- 
ceived 304,447; in the next decade 343,436; 
and in the last 271,655. In other words, dur- 
ing the twenty years from 1880 to 1900 this 
northern region gained 795,000 people as 
against California's 615,000. 

The growth of cities is yet more striking. The growth 
Thirty-four years ago Portland was the only ^^'^^'^^^ 
town approaching 10,000 population. It was al- 
ready flourishing, but from this time its prog- 
ress was remarkable. The census of 1880 
gives the city 17,577; that of ten years later 
46,385; and the last (1900) 90,426. On Puget 
Sound the village of Tacoma, with 73 inhabit- 
ants in 1870 and only iioo in 1880, leaped 
by 1890 to 36,000. During the last ten-year 
period, however, very little gain was made, the 



284 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

census of 1900 showing only 37,714. Seattle 
presents the spectacle of a town which has 
grown in twenty years from a village of 3533 
people to a city of 80,271 people. This sur- 
prising result is due largely to the railroads, 
although Seattle has in recent years gained 
enormously on account of the trade with 




Falls of the Spokane. 

Alaska. East of the Cascade Mountains, 
towns have of course grown less rapidly ; but 
there has been substantial progress in all three 
of the states comprising the Pacific Northwest.^ 
Idaho in 1900 had two cities of over 4000 
each: Boise, 5957, and Pocatello, 4045; east- 
ern Oregon had two : Baker City, 6663, and 

^Washington was admitted into tlie Ihiion on the nth of 
November, 1889; Idaho on July 3, 1890. 




285 



THE AGE OF RAILWAYS 287 

Pendleton, 4406 ; and eastern Washington two, 
Walla Walla and Spokane. The first of these 
contained 10,049 inhabitants; the latter, 36,848. 

Considering that Spokane is an inland town, Spokane 
her history has been an extraordinary one. A f<paiouse» 
few pioneers settled on " Spokane Prairie " as country 
early as 1862, and stores were opened near the 
bridge to supply the wants of miners going 
east into the mountains. But for some years 
the place remained very insignificant. In 1880 
it had but 350 inhabitants. The rapid growth 
since that time is due mainly to the fact 
that the railroad opened up near Spokane one 
of the most wonderful wheat-raising districts 
in the world, the so-called " Palouse " country, 
stretching southward toward Lewis River. 
Having a magnificent water power in its falls, 
Spokane quickly became a great center for the 
manufacture of flour, as well as a distributing 
point both for the rich agricultural region to 
the south and the mining districts to the north 
and east. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OF TO-DAY 

The present The development of every country depends 
an age of upon the number, ability, and enterprise of the 

transfer- '■ . . . . -^ ^ • r 

mation people inhabiting it. The Pacific Northwest 

has been especially fortunate in the character 
of its settlers, who were men and women of 
the best class from almost every portion of the 
United States. Until very recently, however, 
their numbers have been so limited that it has 
not been possible to make use of more than 
a small portion of the natural resources which 
this region affords. As the early traders de- 
voted their energies to securing furs of wild 
animals, so the early settlers, coming a few 
thousand annually with ox teams, were inter- 
ested mainly in obtaining good farms, on which 
to raise grain and cattle. Although some of 
them desired to do so, they were unable to 
make much use of the almost limitless forests 
of excellent timber, the valuable fisheries of 
the coasts and rivers, and the opportunities for 
manufacturing so lavishly provided by nature. 
And so it has been down to the present time. 
Men have come to the Northwest primarily for 
its free lands. The quantity of these which 

288 



THE PACIP^IC NORTHWEST OF TO-DAY 289 

could be taken up and converted into farms at 
slight expense was so vast that until now the 
increase in population has resulted mainly in 
an enlargement of the cultivated areas. While 
a few towns have grown with wonderful rapid- 
ity, increasing trade, rather than manufacturing, 
has been the chief cause. Now, however, the 
population and wealth of the Northwest have 
both reached the point where a rapid develop- 
ment of all kinds of resources becomes possible ; 
and the astonishing activity manifested every- 
where is proof that this country is undergoing 
a great transformation. From a people pur- 
suinor ao-riculture and commerce as almost the 
only interests, they are changing rapidly to a 
complex society, engaged in a multitude of dif- 
ferent occupations. 

Good beginnings have already been made in Manufactur- 
many lines of manufacturing. Flour and lumber ^^| ^" "^^ 
are being exported to the markets of the world ; pects 
manufactures of iron, wool, and paper have 
reached large proportions ; salmon canning is a 
leading industry of the coast region ; and ship- 
building has attained great prominence.^ But 

1 From the earliest settlement of the country the Columbia River 
and Puget Sound districts have been engaged in this important busi- 
ness, for which their situation probably affords greater advantages 
than are possessed by any other portion of the United States. 
Most of the vessels thus far constructed have been of wood ; but 
the launching of the battleship Nebraska at Seattle on the 7th 
of October, 1904. proves that the Northwestern shipyards are 
already equipped for building the heaviest iron ships. 



pros- 



290 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

in most of these lines there is room for almost 
indefinite expansion. For example, the North- 
west has the greatest body of standing timber 
now to be found in the United States. The 
forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 
are rapidly disappearing, while the demand for 
timber in the middle West and the East is 
increasing. The result is a wholly new activity 
in northwestern lumber, marked each year by 
the establishment of many new mills in every 
portion of the country, and a rapidly growing 
export trade. 
Conditions The lumbcr business here, as in the older 
of life in the gtates, has bccn a pioneer amonor manufac- 

smaller .... -jJ, - , - 

towns turmg mdustries. Plants for the manufacture 

of excelsior, furniture, wagons, and carriages 
naturally group themselves around the lumber 
mills ; while the successful establishment of one 
line of industries always tends to attract others 
to the same locality. These influences have 
helped to build up the interior towns, many of 
which now begin to take on the appearance of 
cities. They are providing themselves with 
the modern conveniences, such as electric light- 
ing, water, and sewer systems ; streets are 
scientifically graded, and in a few cases electric 
railways have already been built. Socially, also, 
these smaller places are following in the foot- 
steps of the large seaport cities of the North- 
west, which in turn keep close touch with the 



rove- 



THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OF TO-DAY 291 

great centers of population on the Atlantic 
coast. Churches, benevolent societies, and 
fraternal orders are everywhere ; the common 
school system is well developed, and high 
schools, until recently confined to the larger 
places, are at present being established in all 
towns of any importance/ The movement for 
town and school libraries, local historical soci- 
eties, commercial clubs, women's clubs, and 
other means of intellectual, moral, and scientific 
development, has already produced good results. 

The rural districts have been less fortunate, imp 
Most of the farms are large, even in the well- i"entsin 

. . . , , . farm life 

settled sections, thus scattering the population 
thinly over the country. Moreover, roads have 
generally been bad, making it difficult for 
farmers to communicate with each other, or 
with the neighboring towns. In short, farm 
life, while independent, healthful, and profitable 
in a financial way, has here as in many other 
places been a life of comparative isolation, 
with all the drawbacks incident to that fact. 
A strong movement for good roads has recently 
been inaugurated ; rural mail delivery prevails 
almost everywhere ; and many lines of telephone 
have been established. Just at present there is 

^ There are also numerous academies and colleges maintained 
by private or denominational means, while each of the three states 
has its agricultural college, its normal schools for the training of 
teachers, and its state university. 



tion move 
ment 



292 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

a decided interest in the building of electric 
railway systems, a movement which promises to 
produce a great improvement in the conditions 
of farm life. At the same time the methods of 
agriculture are changing, grain raising in many 
places giving way to dairying, hop raising, and 
fruit growing, all of which tend to break up 
the over-large farms, and to draw the country 
population more closely together. 
Theirriga- One of the most significant movements of 
the present time is the development of irriga- 
tion schemes, in which the national government, 
the state governments, and private parties are 
all taking an active interest. The Inland 
Empire contains immense stretches of other- 
wise excellent land which receives naturally 
too little moisture to produce paying crops. 
Much of this is so located that water can be 
supplied artificially; and when this is done a 
previously desert spot is instantly transformed 
into a garden. Some of the most charming 
districts of the Northwest, like Payette valley 
in Idaho, the Yakima valley in Washington, 
and Hood River in Oregon, illustrate the 
effects of irrigation. There are now on foot 
well-matured plans of reclamation, which, when 
completed, will provide homes for nearly half a 
million people on lands till now covered with 
sage brush. The present extraordinary growth 
of Idaho and eastern Washington is explained 



THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OF TO-DAY 293 

by this fact. But this is not all. The benefits 
of irrigation are becoming so well understood 
that the fruit growers and dairymen of southern 
Oregon are employing it in order to overcome 
the disadvantages of their long dry season; 
and even in the Willamette valley, where the 
rains continue longer in spring and begin ear- 
lier in fall, ditches are being opened to irrigate 
ordinary farm land. The possibilities pre- 
sented by this newly awakened interest are far- 
reaching. Under irrigation a few acres will 
support a family, and indeed large farms are 
out of the question. The general adoption of 
this method of agriculture would mean the fre- 
quent division of the present farms and the mul- 
tiplication of homes, with all the advantages of 
a dense population over a sparse one. 

We have thus indicated some of the forces The n 

now at work tending^ to transform the Pacific If^'x?^? 
o the North- 

Northwest, and to give it the importance which west 

the vastness of its territory and multiplicity of 
its resources have long foreshadowed. Its ad- 
vantages are becoming understood, and the 
region is at last beginning to receive that full 
tide of immigration for which it waited longer 
than any other great section of the West. It 
is a movement of both capitalists and laborers. 
Some are attracted by the opportunities for 
agriculture ; some by the rich and extensive 
mineral deposits awaiting development; and 



ew 



294 A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

others by their interest in commerce and manu- 
facturing. Thoughtful men everywhere have 
been impressed by the advantage which this 
region is acquiring from the extension of Amer- 
ican commerce in the Orient ; from the pro- 
spective construction of the Panama Canal ; and 
from the plans now matured for opening the 
Columbia River beyond the Great Falls, so as 
to allow large vessels to penetrate far beyond 
the Cascade Mountains and bring the Inland 
Empire to the sea. 
Blending of Just at this time, when growth in all material 
the two ages ^jijj-jgs jg proceeding at so rapid a rate, and when 
the people of this great section are turning their 
eyes with joyful anticipation toward the future, 
the historic past is likewise claiming for itself, 
through the centennial anniversary of Lewis 
and Clark's exploration, an increased measure 
of attention. This is one of the fortunate things 
in the present situation ; for if the spirit of the 
pioneer age, its rugged independence, strong 
homely virtues, and wholesome aspirations, can 
be carried over and blended with the best the 
new time gives, the future greatness of our 
civilization in the Northwest is assured. 



APPENDIX 



GOVERNORS OF OREGON 

Provisional Government 

David Hill, Alanson Beers, and l.-r- /- 0,^,0,. 

T , ^' , - 1st Exec. Com., 1843 to 1844 

Joseph Gale ] ' tj ti- 

P. G. Stewart, O. Russell, and I^it- r^ ro.. *. ,0.- 

W. J. Bailey . . . . . . / -^ ^^^^- *^°"''-' '^44 to 1845 

George Abernethy June 3, 1845, to IVIarch 3, 1849 

Territorial Government 

Joseph Lane March 3, 1849, to June 18, 1850 

Kintzing Pritchett .... June 18, 1850, to Aug. 18, 1850 

John P. Gaines Aug. 18, 1850, to May 16, 1853 

Joseph Lane May 16, 1853, to May 19, 1853 

George L. Curry May 19, 1853, to Dec. 2, 1853 

John W. Davis Dec. 2, 1853, to Aug. i, 1854 

George L. Curry Aug. i, 1854, to March 3, 1859 



State Government 



John Whiteaker 
A. C. Gibbs . 
George L. Woods 
La Fayette Grover 
S. F. Chadwick 
VV. W. Thayer 
Z. F. Moody 
Sylvester Pennoyer 
William P. Lord 
T. T. Geer . . 
George E. Chamberlain 



March 3. 1859, to Sept. 10, 1862 

Sept. ID, 1862, to Sept. 12, 1866 

Sept. 12, 1866, to Sept. 14, 1870 

Sept. 14, 1870. to Feb. i, 1877 

Feb. I, 1877, to Sept. 11, 1878 

Sept. II, 1878, to Sept. 13, 1882 

Sept. 13, 1882, to Jan. 12, 1887 

Jan. 12, 1887, to Jan. 14, 1895 

. Jan. 14, 1895, to Jan. 9, 1899 

. Jan. 9, 1899, to Jan. 14, 1903 

. Jan. 14, 1903, to 

'95 



296 



APPENDIX 



GOVERNORS OF WASHINGTON 

Territorial Government 

Isaac I. Stevens 1853101857 

Fayette McMullen 1857 to 1859 

R. D. Gholson 1859 to 1861 

W. H. Wallace 1861 to 1862 

W. M. Pickering 1862 to 1866 

George E. Cole 1866 to 1867 

Marshal F. Moore 1867101869 

Alvin Flanders 1869 to 1870 

Edward S. Salomon 1870 to 1872 

Elisha P. Ferry 1872101880 

W. A. Newell 1880 to 1884 

Watson C. Squire 1884101887 

Eugene Semple 1887 to 1889 

Miles C. Moore 1889 

State Government 

Elisha P. Ferry 1889101893 

Jolin H. McGraw 1893 to 1897 

John R. Rogers 1897 to 1901 

Henry McBride 1901 to 1905 

Albert E. Mead 1905 



GOVERNORS OF IDAHO 



Territorial Government 



William H. Wallace 
Caleb Lyon ... 
David M. Ballard . 
Samuel Bard 
Gilman Marston 
Alexander H. Connor 
Thomas M. Bowen 
Thomas W. Bennett 
David P. Thompson 



March 10. 1863, to Feb. 26, 1864 
P^eb. 26", 1864, to April 10, 1866 

April 10, 1866, to March 30, 1870 

March 30, 1870, to June 7, 1870 

June 7, 1870, to Jan. 12, 1871 

Jan. 12. 1 87 1, to April 19, 1 871 

April 19. 1871, to Oct. 24, 1871 

Oct. 24, 1871, to Dec. 16, 1875 

Dec. 16, 1875, to July 24, 1876 



APPEiNDIX 297 

Mason Brayman July 24, 1876, to Aug. 7, 1878 

John P. Hoyt Aug. 7, 1878, to July 12, 1880 

John B. Neil July 12, 1880, to March 2, 1883 

John N. Irwin March 2, 1883, to March 26, 1884 

William M. Bunn .... March 26, 1884, to Sept. 29, 1885 
Edward A. Stevenson . . . Sept. 29, 1885, to April i. i88g 
George L. Shoup April i, 1889, to , 1890 

State Government 

George L. Shoup 1890 to 1891 

N. B. Willey 1891 to 1892 

William J. McConnell 1893 to 1897 

Frank Steunenberg 1897 to 1901 

Frank W. Hunt 1901 to 1903 

John T. Morrison 1903 to 1905 

Frank R. Gooding 1905 



U. S. SENATORS FROM OREGON 

Delazon Smith ....... Feb. 14, 1859, to Nov. 3, 1859 

Joseph Lane Feb. 14, 1859, to March 3, 1861 

Edward D. Baker March 4, 186 1, to Oct. 21. 1861 

Benjamin Stark Oct. 21, 1861, to Sept. 11, 1862 

Benjamin F. Harding . . . Sept. 11, 1862, to March 3, 1865 
James W. Nesmith .... March 4, 1 861, to March 3, 1867 

George H. Williams March 4, 1865, to March 3, 187 1 

Henry W. Corbett .... March 4, 1867. to March 3, 1873 

James K. Kelley March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1877 

John H. Mitchell March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1879 

John H. Mitchell March 4, 1885, to March 3. 1897 

John H. Mitchell . March 4, 1901 (term expires March 3, 1907) 
La Fayette Grover .... March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1883 

Joseph N. Dolph March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1895 

George W. McBride .... March 4, 1895, to March 3. 1901 
Henry W. Corbett (Appointed by Governor, not seated ; 1897) 

Joseph Senion Oct. 8, 1898, to March 3, 1903 

Charles W. Fulton, March 4, 1903 (term expires March 3, 1909) 



298 APPENDIX 



U. S. SENATORS FROM WASHINGTON 

Watson C. Squire .... March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1897 

John B. Allen March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1893 

John B. Allen . . (Appointed by Governor, not seated ; 1893) 

John L. Wilson March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1899 

George Turner March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903 

Addison G. Foster .... March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1905 
Levi Ankeny . . March 4, 1903 (term expires March 3, 1909) 
Samuel H. Piles . March 4, 1905 (term expires March 3, 191 1) 



U. S. SENATORS FROiM IDAHO 

William J. McConnell . . . January, 1891, to March 3, 1891 

George L. Shoup January, 1891, to March 3, 1901 

Fred T. Dubois March 4, 1891, to March 3, 1897 

Henry Heitfeld March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903 

Fred T. Dubois . March 4, 1901 (term expires March 3, 1907) 
Weldon B. Heyburn, March 4, 1903 (term expires March 3, 1909) 



CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM 
OREGON 

Territorial Period 

Samuel R. Thurston .... Feb. 15, 1849, to April 9, 1851 
Joseph Lane June 2, 185 1, to Feb. 14, 1859 

Statehood Period 

La Fayette Grover .... Feb. 15, 1859. to March 3, 1859 

Lansing Stout March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1861 

George K. Shiel March 4, 1 861, to March 3, 1863 

John R. McBride March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865 

J. H. D. Henderson .... March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1867 

Rufus Mallory March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1869 

Joseph S. Smith March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1871 

James H. Slater March 4, 1871. to March 3, 1873 

Joseph S. Wilson (Died before qualifying, 1873) 



APPENDIX 299 

James W. Ncsmith .... March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875 
George A. La Dow .... (Died before qualifying, 1875) 

La Fayette Lane Oct. 25, 1875, to March 3, 1877 

Richard Williams March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1879 

John Whiteaker March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1881 

M.C.George March 4, 1 881, to March 3, 1885 

Binger Herman ..... March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1899 

W.R.Ellis March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1899 

Thomas H. Tongue, March 4, 1897, to Jan. 11, 1903 (died in office) 
ALilcolm A. Moody .... March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1903 
Binger ?Ierman, June i, 1903 (present term expires March 3, 1907) 
John N. Williamson . . March 4, 1903 (present term expires 

March 3, 1907) 



CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM 
WASHINGTON 

Territorial Period 

Columbia Lancaster 1854 to 1855 

J. Patton Anderson 1855 to 1857 

Isaac I. Stevens 1857 to 1861 

W. H. Wallace 1861 to 1863 

George E. Cole 1863 to 1865 

A. A. Denny 1865 to 1867 

Alvan Flanders 1867 to 1869 

S. Garfielde 1869 to 1872 

A. B. McFadden 1872 to 1874 

Orange Jacobs 1874 to 1878 

Thomas H. Brents 1878 to 1884 

C. S. Voorhees 1884 to 1888 

John B. Allen 1888 to 1889 

Statehood Period 

John L. Wilson March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1895 

W. H. Doolittle March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1897 

S. C. Hyde March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897 

W. L. Jones. March 4, 1897 (present term expires March 3, 1907) 
James Hamilton Lewis . . . March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1899 



300 



APPENDIX 



F. W. Cushman . . 
William E. Humphrey 



. , March 4, 1899, to Nov. 4, 1905 

March 4, 1905 (present term expires 

March 3, 1907) 



CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM 
IDAHO 



Territorial Period 



William H. Wallace . 
Edward D. Holbrook 
Jacob K. Shafer 
Samuel A. Merritt 
Stephen S. Fenn . 
John Hailey . . . 
George Ainslie 
Theodore F. Singiser 
John Hailey . . . 
Fred T. Dubois 



March 4. 
March 4, 
March 4, 
March 4, 
March 4. 
March 4. 
March 4, 
March 4, 
March 4, 
March 



1864, to 

1865, to 
1869, to 
1871, to 
1873, to 
1877. to 
1879, to 
1883, to 
1885, to 

4.1887, 



March 
March 
March 
March 
March 
March 
March 
March 
Marcli 
to Jan. 



1865 
1869 
1871 

1873 
1877 
3. 1879 
3, 1883 
3, 1885 
3, 1887 
, 1890 



Statehood Period 



Willis Sweet . 
Edgar Wilson . 
James Gunn 
Thomas L. Glenn 
Burton L. French 



. . January, 1890, to March 3, 1893 
. . March 4, 1893. to March 3, 1897 
. . March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1901 
. . March 4, 1901, to March 3, 1903 
March 4, 1903 (present term expires 
March 3, 1907) 



INDEX 



Abernethy, George, visited by 
Lieutenant Wilkes, 173; gov- 
ernor, see Appendix. 

Adams, John Quincy, relation to 
Oregon Question, 134, 136. 

Agriculture, 61 ; among Indians, 
65, 147, 155-156, 221; at Van- 
couver, 120, 121; possibilities of, 
on Columbia overestimated, 132; 
begun by Wyeth's men, 145; at 
or near Willamette Mission, 149- 
150; at interior missions, 152, 
155, 156, 221; in Willamette 
valley, state of in 1841, 173- 
174; advantages of, for, 160- 
161,178-179,206-207; effect of 
gold discovery on, 240; state of 
about 1870, 279, 292, 293; on 
Fuget Sound, 211, 212, 243, 281 ; 
in southern Oregon, beginnings 
of, 246, 247, 280; irrigation, ef- 
fects on, 293; in Inland Empire, 
possibilities tested by missiona- 
ries, 254, 255; testimony of Gen- 
eral Stevens, 255; development 
delayed by Indian War, 255- 
256; promoted by mining, 262; 
in Walla Walla valley, 262-266; 
in Grand Ronde valley, 266- 
269; other inland sections, 269- 
270; development waits on rail- 
ways, 270, 280; effects produced 
by railways, 282-285; "^^^' ^°^' 
ditions in, 286, 289, 291-293. 

Africa, way around, opened by 
Vasco da Gama, 3. 



African Association, in London, 
Ledyard explores for, in Africa, 
56. 

Alar(;on, Spanish explorer, 6. 

Alaska, N. W. Coast and, C/iap. If, 
15-27, 31 ; see Bering, Cook, 
Cuadra, Russia, Great Britain; 
Astor trades with Russians in, 
loi, 112, 115; H. B. Co. hke- 
wise, 121; southern boundary 
fixed, 128, 207; Seattle's trade 
with, 284. 

Albatross, 112, 1 1 3. 

Albion, New, 12, 13. 

Alleghany Mountains, crossing of, 
by pioneers, 58; communication 
with East, 61. 

America, Central, 2, 3. 

American Hoard of Commissioners 
of Eoreign Missions, sends Dr. 
Parker to Oregon, 152. See 
Missions. 

American Fur Company, organized 
by Astor, lOO. See Astor. 

American Philosophical Society, 
Jefferson's connection with, 50, 5 1. 

Anian, Straits of, mentioned by 
Carver, 49. 

Applegate, Jesse, " A Day with the 
Cow-Column" quoted, 185-192; 
204; negotiates with H. B. Co., 
212; on P. S. Ogden, 214; in 
southern Oregon, 246-247. 

Arctic Ocean, new knowledge con- 
cerning, gained by Hearne, 23, 
48; by Mackenzie, 97. 

301 



302 



INDEX 



Argottaut, British vessel seized by 
Spaniards at Nootka Sound, 

32. 

Aricara villages, visited by Hunt's 
party, 106. 

"Ark," or flatboat, used on Mis- 
sissippi, 61. 

Arkansas River, 44, 45. 

Armada, Spanish, destroyed by 
British seamen, 15. 

Armstrong, Captain John, tries to 
explore the West, 56. 

Ashburton, Lord, makes treaty 
with United States for Great 
Britain, 176. 

Ashley, General William FI., or- 
ganizes Rocky Mountain Fur 
Co., 139; secures H. B. Co. furs, 
140; and the discovery of South 
Pass, 142. 

Assiniboin River, 97. 

Astor, J. J., plans Western fur trade, 
100; see Columbia River fur 
trade; urges U. S. to secure 
Astoria after treaty of 1814, 
124; tries to combine with Mis- 
souri Fur Co., 139. 

Astoria, founded, 103 ; described 
by P'ranchere, 103 ; emporium 
of Columbia River fur trade, 
103-114 ; bought by N. W. Co., 
and afterward taken by the 
British warship Raccoon, 113; 
name changed to Fort George, 
113 ; restoration to U. .S., 126. 

Athabasca River, 97. 

Australia, Cook explores, 23 ; 
trade with California, 236. 

Babcock, Dr. Ira L., goes to 
Dalles mission, 171 ; elected 
supreme and probate judge by 
Willamette valley settlers, 199. 

Baffin's Bay, 23. 

Bagley, C. B., private library of, 
244; quoted, 281. 



Bagot, , British minister to 

U. S., protests against tlie On- 
tario's being sent to Colum- 
bia, 125. 

Baker, Dr. D. S., builds Walla 
Walla and Columbia River Rail- 
way, 270. 

City, 276, 2S4. 

Balboa, discovers Pacific Ocean, 
1,2; explores, 4, 27. 

Ball, John, with Wyeth, first school 
teacher in Oregon, 122. 

Bear, grizzly, Lewis's encounter 
with, 80. 

Bear Flag revolt, 232-233. 

Bear River, trail along, 238. 

Beaver, abundance of, on Colum- 
bia, 95. 

Beaver, Astor's second ship to 
Columbia, 107 ; sails to China, 
112. 

Beers, Alanson, and family, 151. 

Bellingham Bay, coal found near, 

243- 

Benton, Thomas H., on Oregon 
Question, 133 ; writes letter to 
Oregon people, 217 ; advocates 
railroad to San Francisco Bay, 
272. 

, Fort, 261. 

Bent's Fort, 220. 

Bering, Vitus, Danish navigator in 
service of Russia, discoveries, 

22, 31. 

Strait, I ; discovery of, 22, 

23, 26. 

Bible, inquiry for, by Columbia 

River Indians, 147-148. 
Biddle, Captain, dispatched to 

Columbia, 124, 126. 
, Nicholas, edits Lewis and 

Clark's journals, 93. 
Ijighorn Mountains, crossed by 

Hunt's party, 166. 
Bitter Root Mountains, crossed by 

Lewis and Clark, 85, 86. 



INDEX 



303 



Blackfoot Indians, attitude tow- 
ard Hunt's party, 106 ; 139. 

Black Hawk, 250. 

IManchet, Rev. Fatlier, mission of, 
in Willamette valley, 173 ; atti- 
tude toward provisional govern- 
ment, 199. 

Blockhouses, Fort Alandan a series 
of, 78. 

Blue Mountains, timber of, 269. 

Blue Ridge Mountains, Jefferson's 
home near, 50. 

Boise, population of, 284. 

, Fort, 194, 209. 

valley, mining in, 257, 259; 

agriculture in, 269. 

Bonneville, Captain, fur trader, 
operations in Oregon country, 
142. 

Boone, Daniel, 50, 58, 76 ; inter- 
viewed by Bradbury, 106 ; 180. 
Boston Ships," on California 
coast, 229. 

Boston merchants, engage in the 
fur trade of N. W. Coast and 
China, 37-39. 

Bradbury, English naturalist, his 
"Travels in America" quoted, 
106. 

Brewer, , missionary assistant, 

goes to Dalles, 171. 

British Columbia, gold rush to, 

257- 

Broughton, Lieutenant, enters Co- 
lumbia River, 42 ; takes posses- 
sion of country for Great Britain, 
125-126. 

Bryant, William CuUen, popular- 
izes name " Oregon," 128. 

Buchanan, James, writes to Ore- 
gon people, 217. 

Buffalo, herds seen by Lewis and 
Clark, 78 ; in camp at night, 
80; hunted by emigrants, 189. 

Burnett, Peter H., helps raise emi- 
grating company, 184; quoted. 



184-185, 207, 208 ; letters to 
N. Y. Herald, 195 ; " Recollec- 
tions," 208 ; goes to California, 

235- 
Burnt River, 257. 

Cabrillo, Spanish explorer, explores 
coast of California, 7, 8, 14, 31. 

Calhoun, John C, and Tyler, 178; 
opposes Oregon Territorial Bill, 
216, 217. 

California, origin of name, 6 ; dis- 
covery of, 7 ; coast explored, 7, 
8,9; Drake in, 12, 13; Viz- 
caino explores, 14 ; planting of 
presidios and missions, 16, 17, 
18 ; northern explorations from, 
18-21 ; ranches in, i6i ; condi- 
tions about 1846, 229 ; Sutter's 
Fort, 230 ; Mexican War, con- 
quest of California, 231-233 ; 
gold discovery and its effects, 
234-238 ; on N. W., 239-248 ; 
railroad built to, from the East, 
272-273 ; from Oregon, 275 ; 
recent growth of, compared with 
that of N. W., 283. 

, Gulf of, explored, 6, 7 ; men- 
tioned, 44, 45. 

Peninsula, discovery, at- 
tempted colony, 5 ; missions in, 

17- 

Trail, 238. 

Canal, Erie, 138. 

, Literoceanic, first suggested 

in 1523, 4. 
Canton (China), becomes center 

of the N. W. fur trade, 28. 
Cape, East, named by Cook, 26. 

Plattery, saw-mill at, 242. 

of Good Hope, 13, 38. 

Horn, 7,2,. 

Prince of Wales, i, 26. 

Carver, Captain Jonathan, travels 

in the West, 46-47 ; uses the 

name "Oregon," 47; his map, 



304 



INDEX 



48-49 ; plan to seek the N. W. 
Passage, 49. 

Cascade Mountains, divide the Ore- 
gon country into an eastern and 
r- western section, 253 ; broken 
through at one point by the 
Columbia River, 117, 253. 

Cascades of the Columbia, passed 
by Lewis and Clark, 89 ; obstruc- 
tion to navigation, 260. 

Catholics. See Missions and Blan- 
chet. 

Cattle Company, Willamette, for- 
mation and effects of, 1 61-163. 

Cauldron Linn, 107. 

Cayuses. See Whitman massacre. 

Cedros Island, reached by UUoa, 6. 

Celilo, or Great Falls of Columbia 
River, 89 ; obstructs navigation, 
260 ; canal around, 294. 

Central America, passage through 
sought, 2, 3, 4. 

Central Pacific Railway, 273. See 
Railways. 

Champlaiii, French explorer, 43. 

Champoeg, visited by Wilkes, 1 72 ; 
settlers' convention at, to adopt 
a plan of self-government, 202- 
204. 

Charles the Fifth, 9. 

Chillicothe, town in Ohio where 
Oregon meetings were held in 
1843, 187. 

China, trade with, in furs begun, 
28; from U. S. opened, 36; 
Ledyard's plan to trade with, 
36-37 ; Boston merchants send 
Columbia to Canton, 37 ; Astor's 
project, loi ; Beaver sails for, 
112; Russian trade with, loi ; 
the China trade and Oregon 
question, 130; Chinese laborers 
build Central Pacific Railway, 

273- 
Chinook Indians, trade witli Lewis 
and ('lark, 90. 



Chittenden, Captain H. M., writes 
a history of the fur trade, 138. 

Churchill River, 23, 

Cibola, Cities of, 6. 

Cincinnati, 137. 

Cities, growth of, in California, 
236-237 ; in N. W., 283-285. 

Civil War, effect of, on Pacific rail- 
road projects, 272. 

Clackamas, county of, 210. 

Clark, George Rogers, Jefferson 
writes to, about a transcontinen- 
tal expedition, 52. 

, John, fur trader of Astor's 

party, builds Spokane House, 
no. 

■ , Miss, missionary teacher, 

goes to Nesqually mission, 171. 

— —, William, selected as com- 
panion by Lewis, 71 ; early 
career of, 71-72; brother of 
George Rogers Clark, 71 ; rela- 
tions with Lewis on the journey, 
72 ; appointed Indian agent for 
the W^est, 92; receives Nez 
Perces visitors, 198 ; death, 92. 
See Lewis and Clark's Expedi- 
tion. 

Clark's Fork, of Columbia River, 
85 ; D. Thompson builds fort 
on, 109 ; Astor's men on, no ; 
reached by steamboats, 260. 

Clatsop, county of, 210. 

, Fort, camp of Lewis and 

Clark in Oregon, 90. 

Indians of lower Columbia, 

90. 

Clay, Henry, 134. 

Clayoquot Harbor, Columbia win- 
ters in, 38 ; Tonqiiin destroyed 
in, 104-105. 

Clearwater River, Lewis and Clark 
embark at, 86 ; Lapwai mission 
on, 154; gold mining on, 257, 
259 ; agriculture on, 269. 

Cceur dWlene I'rairie, 255. 



INDEX 



305 



Colleges, in the N.W., 241. 

Colorado River, discovered by 
Alar^on, 6; alluded to, 44, 45. 

Columbia and Lady IVaskington, 
on N. W. coast, 37-42. 

Columbia River, first seen by 
Heceta, 21 ; Carver's lack of 
knowledge of, name " Oregon " 
applied to, 47 ; entered by Gray 
in ship Columbia, given vessel's 
name, 38-39 ; sought by Mac- 
kenzie overland, 97-98 ; ex- 
plored by Lewis and Clark, 
69-93 > occupied for trading 
purposes by Astor, 99-1 14 ; con- 
trolled by N. W. and H. B. 
Cos., 1 14-123; American traders 
visit, 139—145; missions planted 
on, 145-158 ; beginnings of 
American colonization on, 144, 
149-150; British desire boun- 
dary at, 127, 135, 211; main 
portion of river falls to U. S. by 
treaty of 1846, 216 ; naviga- 
tion of, 260 ; improvement of, 
294. 

fur trade, begun by Astor 

party in 1811, Astoria built, 
102-103 ; ^^- W. Co.'s agents 
build trading posts on upper 
Columbia, but . arrive at mouth 
of river too late to prevent 
American occupation, 108—109 ; 
ship Tonquin destroyed, 104- 
105; Hunt's overland party, 105- 
107 ; ship Beaver arrives at 
Astoria, 107 ; Fort Okanogan 
founded, 109-IIO; expansion of 
trade, no— ill; news of war, 
effect of, 111-113; N. W. Co. 
in control, trade renewed, 115 ; 
H. B. Co. absorbs N. W. Co., 116; 
dominates fur trade of northern 
half of North America, 116; Dr. 
John McLoughlin in charge on 
the Columbia, 117; builds Fort 



Vancouver as western emporium, 
1 1 7-1 18; description of fort and 
business at, 118— 123; monopoly 
methods, 123, 145; value of the 
trade, 1 20. 

Columbus, town in Ohio where an 
Oregon convention was agitated 
in 1843, 183, 214, 

Colville, trading post at, 119; min- 
ing near, 257, 259. 

Commerce, influence of East India 
trade on explorations, 3, 5 ; 
Spanish, with Philippines, 9, 14; 
of trans-AUeghany country with 
New Orleans, 61, 62; cut off 
by Spaniards, 63 ; influence on 
I.ouisiana Purchase, 63—64 ; a 
highway for, to the Pacific, see 
Lewis and Clarke Expedition 
and Oregon question ; Wyeth's 
commercial scheme, 142-145 ; 
between Hawaii and Oregon, 
166, 169, 170; Fort Vancouver 
as a market, 174; facilities for, 
in early Oregon, 179, 207;, on 
Puget Sound, 212; in California, 
229 ; importance of San Fran- 
cisco, 236 ; her commercial in- 
fluence on N. W., 236-237, 240, 

241, 242, 243 ; of Puget Sound, 

242, 243, 244; of Inland Empire, 
258-260, 262, 265, 266, 270; of 
small towns, 279; of Spokane, 
285 ; causes growth of cities, 
289; Montana trade, 260-262; 
of Portland, 262-279, 283; com- 
mercial development of Puget 
Sound, 283-284 ; world com- 
merce of Pacific N. W., 289, 294. 
See Columbia River Fur Trade 
and Missouri River. 

Compact, government by, illus- 
trated by Oregon provisional 
government, 203. 

Cone, Rev. W. W., missionary, 
171. 



3o6 



INDEX 



Congress. See Oregon question 
ajid Oregon, Washington, and 
Idaho territories. 

Constitution, 102, 172-173. 

Constitutional convention, in Ore- 
gon, 255 ; adoption of Constitu- 
tion, 260. 

Cook, Captain James, explores 
N. W. Coast, 22-27, 28, 42, 48. 

Inlet, in Alaska, 28. 

Coos Bay, settlements begun at, 
248; coal mining at, 280. 

Coppermine River, explored by 
Hearne, 23. 

Coronado, 6. 

Cortez, Hernando, explores Pacific 
coast, 4, 5, 6, 7; 31. 

Coues, Dr. Elliott, historian, his 
muster roll of Lewis and Clark's 
party, 75; editor of journals, 93, 
108. 

Council Bluff, named by Lewis and 
Clark, 77. 

Cowlitz River, 117. 

Cox, Ross, " Adventures," etc., 1 14. 

Cuadra, Spanish navigator, on N. 
W. Coast, 21, 25; 31. 

Cushing, Caleb, report on Oregon 
question, 167, 168. 

Dakota, 260. 

Dalles of Columbia, or Long Nar- 
rows, 89; native fish market, 
94; 171, 256. 

Dana, Richard IL, " Two Years 
before the Mast," 161. 

Darien, i, 2. 

Dartmouth College, Ledyanl at- 
tends, 33, 34. 

" Deception Bay," named by 
Meares, 39. 

Democratic convention, 1S44, en- 
dorses "Fifty-four-forty," 215. 

Des Chutes River, Wyeth traps 
beaver on, 145; followed by 
1845 emigration, 210. 



Discovery and Resolution, Cook's 

ships, 23-26. 
Douglas, James, factor of H. 15. 

Co., 175.^ 
, Stephen A., introduces Ore- 
gon Territory Bill, 217. 
Downing, Susan, missionary, 151. 
Drake, Sir P'rancis, cruise in 

Pacific, 10-14. 
Du Bois River, Lewis and ("lark 

camp at, 75. 
Dunn, John, "Oregon Territory," 

etc., quoted, 121. 
Dye, Eva Emery, author of 

"Conquest," 75; " McLoughlin 

and Old Oregon," 118. 

Edgecumbe, Mt., discovered, 21; 
named, 25. 

Edwards, P. L., with Lee, 149; 
in Willamette Cattle Co., 162. 

Eells, Rev. C, missionary at 
Tsimakane, 156. 

Elizabeth, Queen, 10, 13. 

Elm Grove, emigrant camp at, 
184. 

Emigration, to Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, etc., 58; necessary for safety 
of Mississippi River, 65; to Mis- 
souri valley, 76; no need to 
cross Rockies, 94; few had 
crossed in 1827, 135; settle- 
ment of Oregon question \\aits 
upon, 136; to middle West, 
1820, 137, 138; early settlers 
on Willamette, 149, 150; to 
Oregon stimulated, 163; politi- 
cal conditions favoring, 167; 
Oregon Provisional Emigration 
Society, 168-170; Jason Lee 
promotes, 1 71, 172; condition 
of emigrants of 1841, 172-174; 
White's company, 175, 176; 
the great enngration, 177-195; 
causes of, 177-180; organiza- 
tion, 182, 184, 185, 190; the 



INDEX 



307 



march, cow-column, 1 85-192; 
at Fort Hall, 192, 193; the road 
westward, 193, 194; Whitman 
as guide, 194; reaches Wil- 
lamette, 195; sources for, 195; 
effect on provisional govern- 
ment, 196, 204; on later emi- 
grations, 206, 207; of 1844, 
207-208; of 1845, 20S-209; 
new road followed, 209-210; 
later, see Paget Sound, Cali- 
fornia, Inland Empire, Southern 
Oregon, Railways. 

Empress of China, ship which 
opened the China trade, 36. 

England, 15, 28, 29, 33, 34, 

52. 
Exploration of Missouri and Co- 
lumbia valleys. See Lewis and 
Clark Expedition, Missouri River, 
rt«(/ Columbia River. 

of the North. See Hearne, 

Samuel, and Mackenzie, Sir 
Alexander. 

of the Pacific coast, by Balboa 

and his companions, from Panama 
to the Gulf of Fonseca, 4; by 
Cortez, from Mexico to the Cali- 
fornia Peninsula, 5; by Ulloa, to 
latitude 28°, 6; by Cabrillo and 
Ferelo, to about latitude 42°, 7- 
9; by Drake, 10-14; hy Viz- 
caino, 14; by Russians in Alaska, 
to about 60°, 16, 21, 22; by 
Perez, from Monterey to about 
54° 40', 18-20; by Heceta and 
Cuadra, to about 58°, 20-21 ; by 
Cook, from 44° to above Cape 
Prince of Wales, 22-27. 

of the West, by Champlain 

and Nicolet, from Canada to 
Wisconsin, 43-44; by Joliet, 
Marquette, and La Salle, to the 
Gulf of Mexico, 44; Verendrye 
discovers the Rocky Mi^untains, 

' 45-46; the French hope to reach 



the Pacific via the Missouri and 
a west-flowing river, 45-46; 
Carver in the West, see Carver. 

Farnham, T. J., visits Oregon, 166; 
writes on California and Oregon, 
166. 

Felice, British ship seized by Span- 
iards at Nootka Sound, 37. 

Ferelo, Spanish explorer, with Ca- 
brillo, 7, 8. 

Fisheries, whale, on N. W. Coast, 
130, 207; Wyeth's salmon fish- 
ing project, 144, 145, 169; value 
of, 179, 289. 

Flathead Indians, mission planned 
for, by Methodists, 148; traders 
among, 109, no. 

Fletcher, Francis, historian of 
Drake's voyage, 10 ; quoted, 

13- 

Florida, 16; Jefferson tries to buy 
West Florida, 64; purchase of 
Florida, 128; Spanish rights on 
Pacific granted to United States 
in treaty with Spain, 128. 

Floy<l, Charles, with Lewis and 
Clark, dies on journey, 77. 

, John, begins Oregon agitation 

in Congress, 129; speech on 
Oregon bill, 130-131; his pre- 
dictions fulfilled, 262. 

Fonseca, Gulf of, reached from 
Panama, 4. 

P'orests of the N. W. See Lumber- 
ing. 

" Forty-niners," 235. 

Fox River, 44. 

France, 9, 15, 43-46; attempt to 
control the West, 63; sells Lou- 
isiana to U. S., 68. 

Franchere, Gabriel, clerk of P. F. 
Co., "Narrative," 102-103, 114; 
goes to Canada, 113. 

Franciscans, founders of California 
missions, 17-18. 



3o8 



INDEX 



Fraser, Simon, British explorer, 
descends Fraser River to the 
Pacific, 98. 

River, Mackenzie navigates, 

97- 

Fremont, John C, first " path- 
finding" expedition, 176; in 
California, 232, 233. 

Frost, Rev. J. H., missionary, 171. 

Fuca, Juan de, legend of, concern- 
ing strait, 25. 

Fur trade, of Canada, begun by 
Chainplain, 43; plan of French 
to trade across the continent, 
46; British H. B. Co. organized, 
its trade, 96-97 ; N. W. Co. suc- 
ceeds P"rench traders of Canada, 
97; its westward operations, 97- 
98; Mackenzie's trading project, 
98 ; Northwesters threaten to take 
possession of the Columbia, 98. 
See Columbia River, Hudson's 
Bay Company, and Northwest 
Company. 

, of the N. W. Coast, begun 

by Cook's men, 29 ; British 
traders, Hanna, Meares, etc., 29- 
32; occasions the Nootka Sound 
controversy, 32-33; Americans 
interested in N. W. Coast, Led- 
yard's trading project, 35-36; 
Boston merchants send ships 
to the N. W. Coast, 37-39. See 
Columbia River. 

, of the United States, as old 

as the American colonies, in- 
fluence of, in early times, 95-96; 
government trading houses, 65; 
lack of organization prior to 
Lewis and Clark's exploration, 
96; effects of exploration on, 100, 
138-139, See Astor, Columbia 
River, and Missouri River. 

Gallatin, .Allierl, negotiates treaty 
with Great Britain, 134-136, 159. 



Gama, Vasco da, 3. 

Genet, French minister to U. S., 
his plans, 63. 

George, Fort. See Astoria. 

Gillespie, Lieutenant A., with Fre- 
mont in California, 231, 

Golden Hind. See Drake. 

Good Hope, Cape of, 13. 

Government, first American, on the 
Pacific. See Oregon provisional 
government. 

Grand Ronde valley, entered by 
Hunt, 107; crossed by emi- 
grants, 194; settlement of and 
conditions in, 206-267. 

Gray's Harbor, discovered by Gray, 
38; native of, reports Tonqnin 
disaster, 104. 

Gray, Robert, on ship Lady Wasli- 
ington,yi; on Columbia \.oil\\\\i?i 
and to Boston, 38; iliscovers 
Columbia River, 38-40. 

Gray, William H., with \\'hitman, 
153; goes East and returns with 
wife, 156; helps form provisional 
government, 201. 

Great Britain, 16; sends out Cap- 
tain Cook to explore N. VV. 
Coast, 24, 29; Nootka conven- 
tion, 32, 34, 48, 49, 53; interest 
in the West, 64, 109, III; and 
the Oregon Question, 1 24-126, 
163, 164, 168, 175, 176, 177- 
178; hopes to secure northern 
part of Oregon, 21 1 ; U. S. will- 
ing to give it up, 213, 214, 215; 
concedes 49th iiarallel boundary, 
treaty, 216. 

Greeley, Horace, quoted, 206; edi- 
torial on Whitman, 220. 

Green Bay, 44. 

Green River vallev, 106. 

Grenville Point, Heceta takes pos- 
session for Spain at, 20. 

Guerriei-e, 173. 

Gulf of Mexico, 44. 



INDEX 



309 



Hall, Fort, 176; emigration of 
1843 at, 193-194- 

Hancock, Samuel, 241, 242. 

Hanna, James, begins N. W. Coast 
fur trade, 29. 

Haro, Spanish sea captain, 31. 

Hasvvell's diary, quoted, 37. 

Healy, P. J., owner of California 
manuscripts, 233. 

Hearne, Samuel, explorations of, 
Coppermine River, 23, 48. 

Heceta, Spanish navigator, 20; dis- 
covers Columbia River, 21, 31, 

39- 

Helena, mining camp at, 258. 

" Henry-'l hompson Journals, The," 
109, 114. 

Hines, Rev. Gustavus, missionary, 
171 ; address at Champoeg, 202. 

Holman, F. V., 169. 

Holland, 15. 

Hood River valley, illustrates ef- 
fects of irrigation, 292. 

Howard, British sea captain, 15. 

Howse Pass, discovered by D. 
Thompson, 108. 

Hudson Bay, 16; port at, 19; York 
Factory, 116. 

Hudson's Bay Company. See Fur 
trade of Canada and Columbia 
River fur trade. Description of 
the trade at Hudson Bay, 97; 
conflict with N. W. Co., Red 
River Colony of Lord Selkirk, 
116; consolidation with N. W. 
Co., 116. 

Hudson, Henry, perishes in the 
search for Northwest Passage, 
22. 

Humboldt River, route of Central 
Pacific Railway, 273. 

Hunt, Wilson Price, partner of 
P. F. Co., 105 ; gathers party for 
Columbia, 105; the overland 
journey, 106-107; sails from 
Astoria in ship Beaver, III; 



trade at Sitka, 112; goes to 
Hawaii, 112; to Columbia, atti- 
tude on affairs there, 11 2-1 13; 
leaves Columbia River, 113. 

Idaho, mining in, 258, 259; agri- 
culture, 269; plan to unite north- 
eastern Washington with north- 
ern Idaho, etc., 282; admitted 
into the Union, 284; cities of, 
284; population in 1870, 279; 
present extraordinary growth of, 
due in part to irrigation, 292. 

Illinois, Oregon emigration move- 
ment in, 170, 183. 

Independence, town in Missouri, 
starting point of emigration par- 
ties going to Oregon, California, 
Santa Fe, etc., 183. 

Indian affairs, for the West, Clark 
in charge of, 92. 

War, Cayuse, causes of, 222- 

223; the Whitman massacre, 
223; captives ransomed, 223— 
224; the Oregon provisional 
government proclaims war, 224; 
preparations and military opera- 
tions, 224-225; efl'ect on Con- 
gress, 225-227; the Rogue River 
War, causes and results, 248- 
249; other wars, 249-251 ; effects 
on emigration to Inland Empire, 
255. 256. 

Indians, California, 8, 13, 17, 18; 
Northwest, 19, 20. See Fur trade, 
Missions, and Indian War. 

Inland Empire, source for the study 
of, 244; discussed, 253-270; its 
extent and character, 253-254; 
agricultural possibilities, 254- 
255; effect of Indian War on 
settlement of, 256; discovery of 
gold in and its effect, 257-258; 
" tenderfeet " and " yondersid- 
ers," 258; pack trains, 258-260; 
steamboats on upper Columbia, 



3IO 



INDEX 



wagon roads, 260-262; compe- 
tition between St. Louis and 
Portland for Montana trade, 261- 
262; agriculture in Walla Walla 
valley, 264-266; in Grand Ronde 
valley, 266, 269; railroad agita- 
tion, 270. 

Iowa, emigration from, to Oregon, 
183. 

Ip/iigenia, British ship, seized at 
Nootka by Spaniards, 37. 

Irrigation, employed by mission- 
aries at interior missions, 156; 
development of, in Pacific N. W., 
292-293. 

Irving, Washington, "Astoria" re- 
ferred to, 106, 107, 114; "Cap- 
tain Bonneville," 142. 

Isaac Todd, N. W. Co.'s ship, ar- 
rives at Fort George, 115; brings 
cattle to Columbia River, 121. 

Jackson, Andrew, President, inter- 
est in Pacific coast, 160; sends 
Slacum to Oregon, 1 60-1 61. 

, David, fur trader, 139, 140, 

141. 

, John R., settles near Puget 

Sound, 211. 

Jackson Creek, in southern Ore- 
gon, gold found on, 247. 

Jacksonville, Oregon, founded, 247. 

James the First, instructions to 
London Co. about exploration 
toward the Pacific, 43. 

Jamestown, 15. 

Jefferson, Thomas, two sources of 
interest in the West, 49-51; his 
letter to Steptoe, 51-52; letter 
to G. R. Clark, 52; relations 
with Ledyard, 53-56; with Mi- 
chaux, 56; concerned for safety 
of the Mississippi, 63-64; tries 
to buy New Orleans and West 
Florida, 64; connection between 
defense of the Mississippi and 



Jefferson's plan to extend the 
Indian trade, 64-66; and the 
proposal to send an exploring 
expedition up the Missouri, 66; 
outline of the message of Janu- 
ary 18, 1803, which provides for 
a government expedition " to the 
Western Ocean," 64-67; Jeffer- 
son buys Louisiana, relation of 
this incident to the proposed ex- 
pedition, 68; sends Lewis and 
Clark, 69-93. 

John, Chief, 250. 

Ji)hn Day's River, mining in, 257; 
packing to, 259. 

Johnson, Elvira, missionary, 151. 

, seaman, settled at Cham- 

poeg, 172. 

Joliet, French trader and explorer, 

44- 

Jones, T. Ap. C, commodore, takes 
Monterey, 232. 

Joint-Occupation, Treaty of, 127; 
definition of, 127; 2(1 Treaty of, 
136. 

Journals of Spanish priests with 
Perez, 18; Jefferson's instruc- 
tions to Lewis concerning, 72; 
publication of Lewis and Clark's, 
93; Thompson's, 108; Henry- 
Thompson's, 109, 114; Wyeth's, 
edited by F. G. Young, 145. 

Kamiah, interior mission, 156. 

Kamiakii), Indian chief, 250. 

Kamtchatka, 54. 

Kanilcjops, fort of II. B. Co. on 
Fraser River, 1 19. 

Kansas City, 183. 

Kansas River, traders from, seen 
by Lewis and Clark, 76. 

Kearny, General S. W., in Cali- 
fornia, 233. 

Kellcy, Hall J., begins Oregon agi- 
tation, 129; inllueiices W'yeth, 
142, 147; visits (Jr'gini, 162. 



INDEX 



311 



Kendiick, Captain John, 37. 

Kenton, Simon, 180. 

Kentucky, early settlement of, 

population in 1800, 58. 
Klamath Lake, Frtmont returns 

from, to California, 232. 
Klickitat, 265. 
Kootenai, fur-trading station, IIO; 

mining region of, 257, 259. 

La Charette, Boone's home, 75, 106. 

Lady Washington, ship, on N. W. 
Coast, 37. 

La Grande, town in Grand Ronde 
valley, 266. 

Lane, General Joseph, appointed 
governor of Oregon Territory, 
sketch, 227-228; .235; intro- 
duces Washington Territory Bill 
in Congress, 245; services in 
Rogue River War, 249; settles 
in southern Oregon, 246; 251. 

Langley, fort of H. B. Co. on 
Fraser River, 119. 

Lapwai. See Missions. 

La Salle, explorer of the Missis- 
sippi, 44. 

Ledyard, John, early life, 33-34; 
with Captain Cook, 34; back to 
America, seeks support for trad- 
ing expedition to N. W. Coast, 35- 
36; pubhshes account of Cook's 
expedition, 36; in France, 53- 
54; meets Jefferson, 55; plans 
to explore North America from 
Nootka Sound eastward, 55; 
his Siberian journey, 55-56; in 
Africa, death, 56. 

Lee, Rev. Daniel, missionary, with 
Jason Lee, 149. 

, Rev. Jason, founds Oregon 

mission, 148-149; returns to the 
East, 165; his influence on Con- 
gress, 167; raises colonizing 
party for Oregon, reaches the 
Columbia on Lausanne, 171. 



Leschi, Indian chief, 250. 

Leslie, Rev. David, missionary, 151. 

Lewis, Captain Meriwether, early 
life, 69-70; Jefferson's private 
secretary, 70; character, 70; 
chosen to lead exploring expedi- 
tion, 69; return journey to Wash- 
ington, 92; governor of Missouri 
Territory, mysterious death, 92. 
See Lewis and Clark's Expedi- 
tion. 

and Clark's Expedition, ori- 
gin of, 57-68; appointment of 
leaders, 69-71 ; instructions, 72- 
74; preparations, the party, 74- 
75; the start, 75-76; Indian 
council, 77; at Fort Mandan, 
78-79; from Mandan to the 
Rockies, 79-82; Shoshones, Sa- 
cajawea, 82; the west slope of 
the Rockies, 82-86; on the Co- 
lumbia, 86-89; reach the Pacific, 
89; at Fort Clatsop, 89-90; re- 
turn journey, 92; sources for the 
study of, 93. 

River, discovered and named 

by Clark, 85 ; name " Snake 
River" not used in this book, 

85. 

River Desert, 107. 

Liberty, Missouri town, outfitting 

place for trapping parties, 153. 

Linn, Dr. Lewis ¥., U. S. Senator 
from Missouri, active in behalf 
of Oregon, his report on, 164- 
165; 166; 168; his bill passes 
Senate, 182 ; popular agitation 
to secure passage through the 
House, 183, 213-214. 

Livingston, Robert R., instructed 
to buy New Orleans and West 
Florida, 64. 

Lolo Trail, followed by Lewis and 
Clark, 85. 

Lovejoy, A. L., companion of Dr. 
Whitman, 219, 220. 



312 



INDEX 



Louisiana, conditions in Lower, 63, 
64 ; purchase of, 68 ; transfer of 
Upper, witnessed by Captain 
Lewis, 75. 

Louisville, important western town, 

137- 
Lumbering, exceptional advantages 
for, in Pacific N. W., 289-290 ; 
earlier development, see Manu- 
facturing. 

Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, explores 
Mackenzie River, also a route to 
Pacific, 97 ; fur-trading project 
of, 98, 99 ; nearly realized, 1 16. 

Mackinac, Hunt secures men from, 
105. 

Magellan, Spanish navigator who 
first rounded South America, 2. 

Malheur River, 209, 250. 

May Dacre, Wyeth's ship, 144, 
148-149. 

Mayflower Compact, 203. 

Mammoth, Jefferson's efforts to get 
bones of, 51. 

Mandan, villages - visited liy St. 
Louis traders, 75 ; reached by 
Lewis and Clark, 78. 

, Fort, Lewis and Clark's camp, 

winter of 1804-1805, 78-79. 

Manufacturing ships, 4 ; first built 
on N.W. Coast, 37, 38, 49 ; ark, 
or flatboat, 61 ; Lewis and Clark 
build canoes, 86 ; ships built at 
Vancouver, 121 ; on Willamette, 
Star of Oregon, 172; on upper 
Columbia, 260 ; importance of 
shipbuilding industry, 289 ; lum- 
ber mills, at Vancouver, 121 ; 
opportunities for, in Willamette 

* valley, 179 ; erection of, ]iro- 
moted by gold rush to California, 
240 ; on Puget Sound, begin- 
nings of, 242 ; later development 
of, 280 ; in Cirand Ronde valley, 
269 ; flour mills, at Vancouver, 



121 ; erected by missionaries 
on upper Columbia, 156 ; The 
Mill (Salem), 173; in Walla 
Walla valley, 265 ; special de- 
velopment at Spokane, 285 ; 
other lines of manufacturing, 
289-290. 

Marquette, Father, French priest 
and explorer, 44, 46. 

Marshall, J. W., discovers gold in 
California, 134. 

Martinez, Spanish navigator, seizes 
British ships at Nootka Sound, 
3'-32. 

McCarver, M. INI., 204; quoted, 
207. 

McLoughlin, Dr. John, arrives at 
Fort George, 117 ; builds Fort 
Vancouver, 117; management 
of fur trade, 11 7-1 23; enter- 
tains Jedediah Smith, 141, 
Wyeth, 145, Dr. Parker, 152, 
the Whitman party, 154; equips 
men for farming, 150; promotes 
temperance society, 151 ; sub- 
scribes to the Willamette Cattle 
Co., 162; makes loans of stock 
and supplies to American set- 
tlers, 174 ; tries to prevent them 
from settling north of the Co- 
lumbia, 211 ; accepts the pro- 
visional government, 212. 

M'Dougal, D., P. F. Co. partner, 
110. 

Meares, Captain John, N.W, Coast 
trader, ship seized by Sjianiards, 

32, 39- 
Meek, Joe, first sheriff of Oregon, 

202; sent to Washington, 225, 

227 ; appointed U. S. marshal, 

228, 235. 
, Stephen H. L., misguides 

emigration of 1845, 209. 
Mendoza, Viceroy of Mexico, sends 

Alar^on, Cabrillo, and Ferelo to 

explore Pacific coast, 6, 7. 



INDEX 



313 



Mexico, 4, 5, 6, 9. 

Michaux, Andre, has project to 
explore the West, failure, 56. 

Missions, in Lower California, 17 ; 
in California, planting of, 17- 
18 ; French project for on 
Pacific, 46 ; in middle West, 
146-147 ; the Nez Perces dele- 
gation to St. Louis, 147-148. 

. , Methodist, in Oregon, be- 
ginnings on Willamette, 148- 
149 ; influence on Willamette 
settlers, 149-150; progress of, 
151 ; reinforcements, 151, 165, 
171— 172 ; expansion of effort, 
1 71-172; becomes a colony, 

173- 

, Congregational or Presby- 
terian, Parker's tour into the 
Oregon country, 151, 153; mis- 
sion sites chosen, 152, 153; the 
Whitman party, 153 ; journey of, 
154; begins two stations, 154- 
155; expansion of work, 155, 
156 ; social conditions, 156-158 ; 
problems of, 218, 219 ; action 
of American Buard, see Whit- 
man ; decline of, 1843 to 1847, 
221, 222 ; the Whitman mas- 
sacre, 222, 224 ; break-up of 
interior missions, 224. 

, Catholic, in Willamette val- 
ley, 173; political influence of, 
199 ; in interior, 218, 219. 

Mississippi River, 16 ; explored 
by French, 43-44 ; geographi- 
cal effect of, 45 ; Missouri branch, 
45-46 ; West dependent on, 61, 
62 ; early commerce of, 61, 62 ; 
opposition of Spain on, 62, 63 ; 
Jefferson's interest in, 63-68. 
See Lewis and Clark's Expedi- 
dition. 

Missouri, Oregon emigrations ren- 
dezvous in, 153, 183, 208. 

River, see Mississippi ; prom- 



ises a route to the Pacific, 
45-46 ; Carver's plans, 47, 49 ; 
exploration of, see Lewis and 
Clark's Expedition ; a commer- 
cial route to the Pacific, 130, 
262 ; fur trade of, 96, 97, 100, 
138, 139, 141 ; road from, to 
Walla Walla, 261 ; railroad 
route to Pacific, 272. 
M'Kenzie, Donald, fur trader with 
Astor and N. W. Co., no, in, 
n5, 116. 
Mofras, Duflot de, visits Oregon, 

172. 
Moluccas, importance of spice 

trade with, 3, 5. 
Monopoly. See Hudson Bay Co., 

123. 
Monroe, James, helps secure treaty 

with France in 1803, 64. 

Monterey, harbor discovered, 8 ; 

fortified mission at, 18 ; base 

for northern explorations, 18-20. 

Montreal, Astor secures men from, 

105, 109. 
Morris, Robert, favors Ledyard, 26. 
M'Tavish, J. G., N. W. Co. fur 
trader, brings war news to 
Columbia, ill ; secures transfer 
of Astoria to N. W. Co., 112- 

i>3- 

Mullan, Captain John, builds Mul- 
lan Road, 2b i. 

Napoleon, secures Louisiana from 
Spain, 57 ; sells to U. S., 68. 

Nebraska, battleship built at 
Seattle, 2S9. 

Nelson River, route of fur trade to 
Hudson Bay, 98, 99. 

Nesmith, J. W., with 1843 emigra- 
tion, 185 ; 204 ; at Northern 
Pacific Railroad celebration, 277. 

Netal River, now Lewis and Clark's 
River, site of Fort Clatsop, 90. 

New Archangel (Sitka), lOl. 



314 



INDEX 



New Orleans, the market for the 
trans-Alleghany West, 6i ; Jef- 
ferson tries to buy, 64. 

New York, Astor seeks to center 
fur and China trade at, loo-ioi. 

Nez Perces Indians, send delega- 
tion to St. Louis, 147-148; 151, 
154. 

Nicaragua Lake, discovered, 4. 

Nicolet, Jean, French trader, 43. 

Nolan, Philip, Jefferson writes to 
about wild horses, 51. 

Nootka convention, treaty between 
Spain and Britain, 32. 

Sound, discovered by Perez, 

19 ; Cook names, 25 ; and the 
Columbia, 28-42 ; first sale of 
sea-otter skins in Canton, 28 ; 
effects of, 29 ; early fur trade, 
30 ; Nootka Sound the center 
of, 30-31 ; Russia pushes down 
the coast, 31 ; Spanish rights 
threatened, 31 ; Spain fortifies 
Nootka Sound, 32 ; Spaniards 
seize British vessels at Nootka, 
32; the Nootka Sound con- 
troversy and its settlement, 32- 
33 ; influence upon American 
interests in the Pacific N. W., 33. 

North Dakota, Fort Mandan in, 78. 
Northwest America, first sea-going 

vessel built on N. W. Coast, 37. 
Coast, definition of, 20 ; and 

Alaska, 15-27. 

Company, origin and growth 

of, 97 ; occupation of the coun- 
try west of the Rockies, 97-98, 
108-109 » accjuisition of Astoria 
as a result of the War of i8i2, 
III-II3 ; consolidation with 
H. B. Co., 1 1 5- 1 1 6. 

Passage, 3, i6, 22. 

Ogden, Peter Skeen, factor of 
H. B. Co., 1 75 ; saves Waiilatpu 
captives, 223, 224. 



Ohio, population in 1800, 58; 
Oregon meetings in, 183, 213- 
214. 

Statesman, newspaper, source 

of information on Cincinnati 
Oregon convention of 1843, 214. 

Okanogan, Fort, founded by Astor 
party, ill. 

Olympia, beginnings of, 212 ; pros- 
perity after the gold rush, 241, 
242 ; territorial government be- 
gun at, 245 ; population in 1870, 
280. 

Onalaska, or Unalaska, Ledyard 
explores, 34. 

Ontario, warship sent to Columbia, 
124, 126. 

Orbit, brig which began the lum- 
ber trade from Puget Sound to 
California, 242. 

Oregon Historical Society, publica- 
tions of, 145, 195, 208, 281. 

, origin of name, 47, 128. 

provisional government, early 

political conditions, 197 ; first 
step toward self-government, 
198-199 ; cause of failure, 199- 
200; new agitation, the " wolf- 
meeting," 200; Champoeg meet- 
ing, 201-202 ; officers chosen, 
202; the first organic law, 203; 
government by compact, 203 ; 
weakness of the first provisional 
government, 204-205; saved by 
the great emigration, 204-205; 
its final success, 206; the W. B. 
Co. accepts its authority, 211- 
212; effect on Oregon question, 
213; undertakes a war against 
the Cayuse Indians, 224 ; termi- 
nates, 228. 

question, situation on Colum- 
bia when War of 1812 came, 
108-113; sale of Astoria to N.\V. 
Co., 113; taken by Raccoon, 113; 
question of its restoration under 



INDEX 



315 



treaty of Ghent, 124; British 
rights first asserted in 1817, I25;_ 
U. S. to have right of possession 
of Columbia till question of 
ownership could be settled, 125- 
126 ; Joint-Occupation Treaty, 
126-127; first discussion of 
boundary, 127-128; lack of 
national interest in Oregon, 
Bryant's "Thanalopsis," Kelley's 
pamphlets, 128-129; in Con- 
gress, 129; Floyd's resolution, 
report, and bill, 129; second 
bill, debate, Floyd's argument, 
1 29-1 3 1 ; Bailies's predictions, 
131-132 ; Tracy's "practical" 
views, 132; defeat of bill, 133 ; 
Benton's Senate speech, 132; 
first diplomatic discussion over 
Oregon, 134; second diplomatic 
discussion, Gallatin, 135-136; 
reasons for failure, 136; the 
question dropped, 1827-1837, 
159; Slacum in Oregon, 160-162; 
report, 163 ; Oregon discussion 
resumed in Congress, Linn's bill 
and report, 164-165; Jason Lee 
in the East, T. J. Farnham's visit 
to Oregon, petitions and memo- 
rials, 165-168; Cushing's report, 
167; Oregon Provisional Emi- 
gration Society, 168-170; local 
emigrating companies, 17OJ 
Lee's colony of 1840, 1 71-172 ; 
Oregon in 1841, 172-175 ; 
White's company of emigrants, 
1842, 175-176; the Ashburton 
Treaty, 176; the great emigration 
of 1843, 177-195; -f^*^ Emigra- 
tion. — Establishment of provi- 
sional government for Oregon ; 
see provisional government. — 
Effect on Oregon cjuestion, 213; 
Oregon convention at Cincinnati, 
213-214 ; " Fifty-four-forty," 
214-215 ; Polk President, his 



attitude, 215; Britain offers com- 
promise, 216. 

State, agitation for statehood, 

adoption of Constitution, and 
admission into the Union, 251- 
252, 

Steam Navigation Company 

opens river trade with Wallula, 
259; extends operations on upper 
Columbia, 260, 262; becomes the 
Oregon Railway and Navigation 
Co., 276. 

Territory, President Polk 

recommends creation of, 216, 
218, 227; bills for, 216, 218, 
227; slavery influence in Con- 
gress opposes, 217, 218, 227; 
passage, 227 ; General Lane, 
first governor, 227; government 
inaugurated, 228 ; terminates, 
252. 

Trail, 238. 

Oregoniari and Indiaii^s Advocate, 
169. 

Oregonian, The Sunday, of Port- 
land, Oregon, reprints Lee and 
Frost's " First Ten Years of Ore- 
gon," 149. 

Orient, trade with, from Pacific 
N. W., 295. 

Pacific Fur Company. .S"^*" Astor 

«;/</ Columbia River Fur Trade. 
Palouse, wheat-raising region of 

Pacific N. \V., 285. 
Panama Canal, affects Pacific 

N. W., 294. 

, Isthmus of, I, 235, 274. 

Parker, Dr. Samuel, A. B. C. F. M., 

missionary, explores Oregon, 

i5i-'53- 

Peace River, ascended by Mac- 
kenzie, 97-99. 

Pedlar, ship used bv Hunt, 1 13. 

Pen d'Oreille, Lake, N. W. Co. 
furt at, 109; navigation to, 260. 



3i6 



INDEX 



Perez, Juan, explores N. W. Coast, 
18-20, 31. 

Perkins, Rev. H. K. W., mission- 
ary, 151. 

Philippines, discovered by Magel- 
lan, conquest and commerce 
with, 9. 

Pioneer and Democrat, Puget 
Sound newspaper, used as 
source, 244, 265. 

Pitman, Miss, 151. 

Platte River, Oregon Trail along, 
141, 1S5, 238. 

Pocatello, city in Idaho, popula- 
tion of, 284. 

Polk, James K., elected President, 
213; settles Oregon question, 
214. 

Population, of middle West about 
1800, 58; in 1820, 137; of Ore- 
gon, in 1841, 172; in 1846, 210; 
of California, in 1850 and i860, 
237; of the N. W., in 1850 and 
i860, 237; of Oregon and 
Washington, in i860, 252; of 
the Inland Empire, 266, 269; 
distribution of, in N. W., about 
1870, 278-280; later growth, 
283-285; prospects for increase 
due to irrigation, manufacturing, 
etc., 292-294. 

Portland, a new village at time of 
California gold rush, 240 ; em- 
porium of trade to Inland Em- 
pire, 262; metropolis of the 
N. W., 1870, 279; progress of 
population, 283. 

Portneuf River, trail along, 238. 

PortTownsend, lumber mill at, 242. 

Portugal, 3; flag of, used by 
British N. W. traders, 29, 32. 

Powder River, mining on, 257, 
259; agriculture on, 269. 

Prevost, J. H., receives Columbia 
country from British at Astoria, 
126. 



Prickly Pear River, 259. 

Princess A'oyal, British ship seized 
by Si)aniards at Nootka, 32. 

Puget Sound, Eort Nescjually and 
Methodist Episcopal mission on, 
171 ; first settlement on, 210- 
212; California miners from, 235 ; 
commercial progress of, 236, 
241; lumbering on, 242; dis- 
covery of coal, 242-243 ; in- 
creased population, 242, 244; 
demands separate territory, 244, 
245; project of railroad to, 271; 
population on, 279; lumbering, 
280,281; social conditions, im- 
portation of women from the 
East, 281 ; growth of cities on, 
283, 284. 

Agricultural Company, 21 1. 

Herald, used as source, 244. 

"Quarterly," of Oregon Historical 
Society, 195, 208, 281. 

Raccoon, British warship, takes 
Astoria, 113. 

Railways, 61 ; inland country waits 
for, 270; Walla Walla and Co- 
lumbia River line, 270 ; age of, 
in Pacific N. W., 271; early 
Pacific railway projects, Asa 
Whitney, 271; George Wilkes, 
271-272; influence of Civil War 
on, 272 ; first Pacific railway 
completed to San Francisco Bay, 
273; effect of, 273-274; insuffi- 
cient for N. W., 274; connect- 
ing lines planned, 274, 275; 
Oregon-California Railway, 275; 
Henry Villard, 275-277; Ore- 
gon Railway and Navigation Co,, 
276 ; Northern Pacific com- 
pleted, 277; later railway build- 
ing, 278; effect of, 278-285. 

Resolution and Discovery, Cook's 
ships, 23. 



INDEX 



317 



River of the West, early ideas con- 
cerning, 43-44; relation to Mis- 
souri, 45, 46; Carver's report 
and map, 46-49; Jefferson and, 
53. See Columbia. 
" Rocky Mountain Exploration," 
by Reuben Gold Thwaites, 
quoted, 72. 

Rocky Mountains, Verendrys dis- 
covers, 46 : crossed by Lewis 
and Clark, 82; difference in 
character of east and west slopes, 
82, 84, 92 ; Mackenzie crosses 
by Peace River, 97; David 
Thompson crosses by Howse 
Pass, 108; eastern boundary of 
Oregon, 127; a supposed inac- 
cessible barrier to westward 
emigration, 132; explored by 
Long, 133; American fur traders 
enter, 139; Jedediah Smith 
crosses to California and to Ore- 
gon, 140-141; wagons taken 
into, 1830, 141 ; discovery of 
South Pass, 141; first wagons to 
cross, 142; road opened to Fort 
Hall, 144; completed to Co- 
lumbia, 1843, 193. 

Rogers, Rev. C, missionary, 156. 

Rogue River valley receives set- 
tlers, 247. 

War. See Indian War. 

Roseburg, Oregon and California 
Railway completed to, 275. 

Ross, Alexander, clerk of P. F. 
Co., at Okanogan, the " Fur 
Hunters," quoted, no; 114. 

Rush, Richard, negotiates with 
Britain on Oregon, 134, 135. 

Russia, explorations of, in Alaska, 
16, 20, 22, 25; government of, 
arrests Ledyard, 54; treaty with 
U. S., 128; Astor's trade with 
Russians in Alaska, loi, 112; 
H. B. Co.'s trade with, 121. 



Sacajawea, guide to Lewis and 
Clark, 75, 82. 

Sacramento valley, 231. 

Salem, origin of, 172, 173; consti- 
tutional convention at, 251. 

Salmon River, Captain Clark de- 
scends, 85; mining on, 257, 259. 

San Carlos, mission of, 18. 

Sandwich Islands, Cook discovers, 
24; account of, relations with 
Oregon and California, 167. 

San Diego Harbor, discovered, 7; 
named, 14; fortified, mission at, 
17, 18. 

San Francisco, becomes the com- 
mercial emporium of Pacific 
coast, 236; population, 237. 

San Jacinto (Mt. Edgecumbe), 21, 

25- 

San Miguel, Gulf of, where Balboa 
reaches the Pacific, i; Bay of, 
later called San Diego, 7 ; Island 
of, 8. 

Santa Fe, possible route to Pacific 
by way of, 53. 

Santa Marguerita, a discovery made 
by Perez, 19. 

Santiago, exploring ship of Perez 
and Heceta, 18, 20. 

Saskatchewan River, 97. 

Scrihiier's Magazine cited, 90, 

Sea-otter, importance of, 28, 29, 
and ff. 

Seattle, beginnings of, 242; ship- 
load of women arrive at, 281; 
her marvelous growth in twenty 
years, 284; battleship A'ebraska 
built at, 289; importance of 
Alaska trade, 284. 

Selkirk, Lord, founds Red River 
colony, 116. 

Serra, Father Junipero, founds Cali- 
fornia missions, 17. 

Shepard, missionary, 1 51. 

She Whaps River and Lake, fur 
trade upon, no. 



3i8 



INDEX 



Shively, J. M., Oregon emigration 
agent at Washington, 182. 

Shoshone Imliaiis, aid Lewis and 
Clark, 82. 

Siberia, Ledyard's journey in, 55. 

Sierras, gold found in, 234. 

Simmons, M. T., pioneer settler on 
Puget Sound, 211, 212. 

Simpson, Sir George, governor of 
H. B. Co., 117; visits Oregon, 
172. 

Siskiyou Mountains, crossed by 
Oregon men going to California, 
234; railway across, 275. 

Sitka, loi. 

Slacum, W. A., sent to Pacific coast, 
160; visits Willamette valley, 
160-161; promotes cattle com- 
pany, 161-162; returns to U. S. 
and reports, 163. 

Smith, A. B., missionary, 156. 

, [cdediah, 119; visits Cali- 
fornia, 140; crosses to Oregon, 
141; attacked by Umpqua In- 
dians, 141; at Vancouver, 141 ; 
takes wagons to Rocky Moun- 
tains, 141. 

Snake River. See Lewis River. 

Society Islands, Wyeth's ship 
wrecked at, 143. 

Sonora, Cuadra's ship, 20, 21. 

South Pass. See Rocky Mountains. 

Sea, discovered by Balboa, 

I, 2; explored, 5, 44, 45. 

Bowles, Captain, in charge of ship 
Beaver, 112. 

Spain, her power on the Pacific, 9, 
10 ; decline of, 15, i6; plans of, 
16, 17; executes plans, 17-21 ; 
gives up exclusive claim to N. W. 
Coast, 32; treaty with U. S., 128. 

Spalding, Rev. H. II., joins Whit- 
man, F53; wife an invalid on 
journey, 154; they settle at 
Lajiwai mission, 154-155; his 
account of the mission, 221. 



Spectator, The, New York news- 
paper used as source, 220. 

.Spokane, beginnings of, and ac- 
count of development, 285. 

House, P. F. Co. trading 

station, built by Clark, iii. 

River, 1 10. 

Star of Oregon, a vessel built on 

Willamette, in 1841, 172. 
St. Elias, named, 25. 
Steptoe, Jefferson writes letter to, 

5'- 

Stevens, General Isaac I., appointed 
governor of Washington Terri- 
tory, 245-246; sketch of, 245- 
246; opinion of inland country, 
255; explores Northern Pacilic 
Railroad route, opinion of, 272; 
his treaties with Indian tribes, 
255-256; "Life of," by Hazard 
Stevens, 246. 

St. James, H. B. Co. fort, 1 1 9. 

St. Louis, Captain Lewis at, 75; 
important western trade center, 

138, 139- 

Stock-raising, beginnings of in 
N. W., 121; advantages of W^il- 
lamette valley for, 160; Willa- 
mette Cattle Co., 161-163; 
favored land for, 178; in Inknd 
Empire, 254, 279; dairying, 
292; in southern Oregon, 246, 
280. 

"Strait," the search for a, 2, 3. 

Strong and Schafer, " Government 
of American People " cited, 203. 

Stuart, David, P. F. Co. partner, 
builds Fort Okanogan, 109-IIO. 

, Robert, P. I"". Co. partner, 

sent East from Astoria, wanders 
in Rocky Mountains, 1 10. 

Sublette, William L., Rocky Moun- 
tain fur trader, 139, 140, 141, 143. 

Sutter, Cajitain John A., settles in 
California, 230, 233, 234. 

Sutter's Fort, 230-231. 



INDEX 



319 



Tacoma, beginnings, population in 
1870, 2S1; rapid growth, 283- 
284. 

Taos, 220. 

Tecumseh, Indian chief, 250. 

Tennessee, population in 1800, 
58. 

" Thanatopsis," popularizes the 
name "Oregon," 128. 

Thompson, David, geographer of 
N. W. Co., appears at Astoria, 
108; discovers Howse Pass, 108; 
plants forts on upper Columbia, 
109; opposes P. F. Co., 109; 
journal quoted by Dr. Coues, 
108. 

Thorn, Captain Jonathan, in charge 
of Tonquiti, 102; at mouth of 
Columbia, 103; at Clayoquot, 
trouble with Indians, death, 104, 
105. 

Three Forks, of the Missouri, 
Lewis and Clark at, 81. 

Thwaites, Dr. Reuben Gold, quoted, 
72; publishes plan of Fort Clat- 
sop, 90; edits Lewis and Clark's 
journals, 93; John B. Wyeth's 
book, 145. 

Tonqiiin, Astor's first ship to the 
Columbia, 102; loss of men at 
mouth of river, 103; northern 
cruise, destruction of, 104-105. 

Tracy, Rev. Frederick P., editor 
of Oregonian ami Indiati's Ad- 
vocate, 169. 

, of New York, speech on 

Floyd's bill, 132-133. 

Trappers, American, sent to Rocky 
Mountains by Ashley, 139; come 
in contact with H. B. Co. trap- 
pers, 139-140; party of settlers 
in Willamette valley, 1 72. 

Tri/nine, the New York, cited, 
206, 220. 

Tsimakane, mission on Spokane 
River, 156. See Missions. 



Tualatin, County, in Oregon, 210; 

Academy, 241. 
Turner, Professor Frederick J., 

" Significance of Frontier," 

quoted, 95, 96. 
Tyler, President John, quoted on 

Oregon question, 178. 

Ulloa, Spanish explorer, sent out 

by Cortez, 5, 6, 7, 31. 
Umatilla Landing, 259. 
Umpqua, Fort, 1 19. 

valley, settlement of, 246- 

247; railroad to, 275. 

Union Pacific, 276. See Railways. 

Vancouver, Captain George, 42. 

, Fort. See Hudson's Bay 

Company. 

Verendrye, discovers Rocky Moun- 
tains, 46. 

Villard, Henry, interested in Ore- 
gon railways, 275; organizes 
Oregon Railway and Navigation 
Co. to build line up Columbia 
valley, 276; secures control of 
Northern Pacific Railroad, 276; 
completes Northern Pacific Rail- 
road, 277; " Memoirs of," 277. 

Vizcaino, Spanish explorer, in Cali- 
fornia, 14, 15, 17. 

Waiilatpu. See Missions. 

Waldo, Daniel, 204. 

Walker, C. M., with Jason Lee, 
149. 

, Rev. Elkanah, missionary at 

Tsimakane, 156. 

, Joseph, leads portion of 

Bonneville's men to California, 
142. 

Walla Walla River, Fort Walla 
Walla at mouth of, 115 ; mission 
site selected on, 152-153 ; mis- 
sion on, 154. 

valley, settlement of, 259, 

260, 261 ; development, 262, 



320 



INDEX 



265-266 ; military post in, 259 ; 
commercial activity of Walla 
Walla town, 259-260 ; impor- 
tance of, 280. 

Waller, Rev. A. F., missionary at 
Oregon City station, 171. 

Wallula, 270. 

War of 1812, effect on Oregon, see 
Oregon question. 

Washington Siaiesi/ian, source 
used, 244. 

• Territory, included in early 

Oregon, see Oregon Territory, 
Columbia River, and provisional 
government ; early settlement, 
see Puget Sound ; agitation for 
separate territory, 244 ; first 
newspaper, 244 ; first territorial 
meeting, 244 ; second meeting, 
memorial to Congress, 245 ; 
Lane's bill for creation of the 
Territory of Columbia, 245 ; 
amended and passed, 245 ; Gen- 
eral Stevens governor, 245 ; 
gold in, see Mining ami In- 
land Empire ; becomes a state, 
284. 

, State of, admitted, 284 ; 

cities of, 283, 284, 285 ; effects 
of commerce and of irrigation, 
289, 292. 

Wayne, Anthony, 71. 

Webster, Daniel, concludes Ash- 
burton treaty, 176. 

Wesiern Engineer, steamboat 
used by Long's exploring party, 
138. ■ 

White, Dr. Elijah, comes to Ore- 
gon, 151, 173; appointed Indian 
agent, takes emigrants to Ore- 
gon, 175-176, 200. 

Whitman, Dr. Marcus, with Dr. 
Parker, 152 ; brings mission- 
aries to Oregon, 153-154 ; 
founds interior missions, 154- 
155 ; guides emigralion of 1843, 



193-194; reasons for his famous 
winter ride, 218-219; difficulties 
and hardships on journey, 219, 
220 ; missions decline, 221-222 ; 
the Whitman massacre, 223 ; 
Whitman's opinion of inland 
country, 254. 

Whitney, Asa, his railroad project, 
271. 

Wilderness Road, 58, 180. 

Wilkes, Lieutenant Charles, in 
Oregon, 172-174. 

, George, plans national rail- 
road to Pacific, 271-272, 275. 

Willamette Cattle Company, 161- 
163. 

, Indians of, a sickly, degraded 

race, 151, 173. 

Mission. See Missions. 

valley. See Emigration and 

Stock-raising. 

Wilson, Dr. J. R., on Oregon 
question, 168. 

, W. H., missionary, 151. 

Wind River Mountains, crossed by 
Hunt's party, 106, 141. 

Wisconsin Historical Society, 
library of, used, 214. 

Wood, Tallmadge B., quoted, 
207. 

" World Encompassed, The," 
Fletcher's account of Drake's 
voyage, 10. 

W^yeth, Nathaniel J., interested in 
Oregon, 142 ; trading project, 
143 ; first journey to Columbia, 
143 ; return to Boston, second 
journey, 144 ; plans ruined, 145 ; 
influence on settlement of Ore- 
gon, 145 ; his journals and let- 
ters, 145. 

Yakima valley, settlement of, 265 ; 

agriculture in, 269 ; an irrigated 

section, 292. 
Yamhill County, Oregon, 210. 



INDEX 



321 



Yellowstone River, described by 
Lewis and Clark, 80. 

Yonealla, founded and named by 
Jesse Applegate, 246. 

York, Captain Clark's negro serv- 
ant, 75. 

York Factory, 116. 



Young, Ewing, organizes cattle 
company, 161-162; death, es- 
tate, 198-199. 

, Professor F. G., edits Wyeth's 

journals, 145 ; Quarterly, 195. 

Young's Bay, 90. 



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